Harry Potter and the Chosen Few
by potterwatch97
Summary: The Darkness. It's never ending. Never leaving, never gone. It takes you and it sucks you out, and it hides you away until you can't take it anymore, and you loose your mind. And he was definitely lost... lost to the light. PostOotP, slight AU, violence
1. Prologue

**Prologue – One Year Ago**

_We fought so hard  
>so valiantly…<em>

A man stood in the center of an empty dark room. He was dressed in nothing but a plain black robe. He was a bald man, with a thin mouth, red eyes, and snake-like slits for a nose.

_We wanted to win  
>but got tragedy…<em>

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a long, slender piece of wood – his wand.

_It comes out of nowhere  
>steals you in the night…<em>

He raised his wand to a point directly in front of his face and examined it carefully. It was yew, thirteen inches, with a phoenix feather core. He had gotten it when he was just eleven years old. When he was young and stupid. That time felt like a lifetime ago….

_Don't ever look back  
>you'll find no light…<em>

It was almost time… not too long until the power built completely and the transfer could begin… he was finally taking care of something that he had originally thought has been taken care of before, but Potter had changed that…. Oh well… that was then…

_Nothing can save you  
>there's no turning back…<em>

This was now.

_The Darkness is coming…_

Soon he would be…

_And you don't stand a chance…._

Immortal.

He raised his wand in a final surrender. Soon, he would feel no pain. Soon, he would not have to worry about Potter…. Soon… the world would be his.

"_*Ego do mea anima ad te…mea factorem."_

The Earth literally shook from the power of it. The walls and roof were moaning under the pressure of the power. Dust and small pieces of rock fell from the ceiling, hitting the floor with an unnaturally loud echo. Shadows flashed against the wall, sailing across the walls and floor, joining together at the center at the Dark Lord's feet. Deep, powerful laughter echoed through the room, seemingly coming from the floor and the walls.

A bright, white light appeared, swallowing up the Dark Lord in its flare. A small black dot appeared, just where the Dark Lord's heart would be. It slowly threaded outward, sending thin black strands down his arms and to the very tips of his fingers, down his legs and lifting his feet off the ground. The black light balled together in the palms of his hands. The Dark Lord smiled an evil smile, the black light coming from behind his teeth a dark contrast to the white light surrounding him.

He raised his hands and clasped them above his head. Slowly bringing his hands down until they were just before his face, the light now traveling from his hands and into his mouth, He closed his eyes tight in concentration. The deep laughing grew more and more pronounced. Suddenly an Earth shattering scream filled the air. It was the sound of someone losing their life. It was the sound of hate, and madness, and pain – the sound of death. The death of his soul.

The black light started to radiate from him as the shadows beneath his feet started wiggling, growing more and more restless, the souls of others before him giggling with anticipation at the thought of have a new home, a new friend.

The laughter stopped, the quiet, high-pitched hysteric giggling growing more powerful. Voldemort opened his eyes, showing nothing more than blank, empty black hole with no life.

The shadows rose out the ground and swirled on a silent wind that now filled the room, making the Dark Lord's cloak billow around him. Slowly, one by one, the shadows attacked him, becoming consumed by the black smoke now flowing in waves around the black light surrounding the Dark Lord.

The giggling stopped and the Dark Lord fell to the floor with a thud. It was not a problem however: he could feel no pain now. The light faded and the smoke consumed him, lifting him slowly to his feet. His eyes were so cold, so void of emotion, so dark. He opened his mouth, smiling a slight, thin smile that was sickly enough to make anyone's soul freeze.

He raised his wand and threw his head back, laughing an evil, maniac laugh that could send shivers down anyone's spine. He raised his wand further above his head, producing a black smoke as cold as ice.

A flick of his wand, and a swish of his cloak, and he was gone, some smoke still lingering along with the unnatural echo of his deep, cruel laugh.

A/N: *this roughly translates (I think) from Latin to English as 'I give my soul to you… my maker.' I'm not quite sure if that's right because I did it word for word on Google translate and I'm not sure if you would write out it like that.

I hope you liked the opening to my story, and I feel inclined to tell you that not all the chapters will be this short. Please tell me what you think! I love constructive criticism.


	2. Chapter 1: The Incomplete Prophecy

A/N: This is going to end up being one of those stories where you only know about like half of what's going on until they come out with the next book. I am writing a prequel, and I plan on writing a sequel. But it's probably going to end up being one of those story series like the_** Series of Unfortunate Events **_series where you don't know everything until the last chapter of the series. If you're not in to that kind of thing, then you probably shouldn't read my stories.

Chapter 1 Rewrite

Ron Weasley was sitting at the table in his kitchen, in the flat that he shared with his girlfriend. They had lived there for almost six months now, ever since the night he had gotten into a huge row with his family, the night _he _had been killed.

That memory haunted him night and day, never able to forget the look on his face when that green light had struck him down, too shocked to register what it would mean for the world. Not that it mattered….

The world was doomed for tragedy anyway.

He heard the kitchen door open and watched as his girlfriend, Hermione Granger, walked in the door. She had bushy brown hair and was the brightest witch he had ever met in his life. Being around her made him feel so stupid sometimes, but he didn't mind – he loved her for it.

"There was another death last night."

_Another one, _he thought wearily. _It's the third one this week and it's only Monday, Hermione, why do you act so surprised?_

"Oh really?" _Here it comes. _"What happened?"

"Well," Hermione started hesitantly. He really wished she would stop being so afraid of his reaction to these things. They had this argument at least three times a week. One would think she would know what his reaction would be like by now. "They're not quite sure but they think there may have been the Cruciatus Curse involved. He was beaten up really badly, so they think he was probably attacked or something. And he has these gashes all over his body that they're pretty sure no spell they know of could do, but I'm pretty positive it's from _Sectemsemptra_."

_Time for the fireworks…. _"So… do they know who did it?" He asked quietly.

"No… but _I _have a hunch…."

"_No, _Hermione, you know I refuse to believe that!"

"Why? You know it could be completely possible and –"

"'Completely possible' Hermione? _Really_? He bloody _died; _you and I both saw it! You know what happens when someone gets hit with that curse? They die. End of story. Goodbye, so long, good riddance. He is _never _coming back_._"

"That rule doesn't necessarily apply to all people you know…"

"That was a once in a lifetime chance Hermione, I doubt it would happen again."

Ron quickly got up and went to the refrigerator and grabbed a muggle beer. He had never really been much of a drinker, but he often turned to it when he was stressed or angry. When he sat back down at the table, Hermione moved to the other side so she was sitting beside him, bringing a newspaper with her.

"Ron," she said quietly, "there are only five people who know what that spell is, four of them who know how to do it, and two of them are in this room. Now do you honestly think that _Snape _of all people would just run around killing people at random with that spell?"

"But he doesn't do that. He wasn't a killer; he would never have done such a thing. He's the dead one Hermione, not the one doing the killing."

"Why are you so set on your _best friend _being _dead_?"

"Why are you so keen on making one of the most selfless people I know into a killer! Why are you suddenly so keen on having a hero when everything is perfectly normal as is?"

"Times change Ron, you know that. You say everything is normal? We don't even talk to most of our friends from school and work anymore because half of them are dead! You say we don't need a hero, then why are people dying in twos and threes every day, and those are only the ones we hear about! Why haven't we talked to our best friends in half a year? Why is your family not the excitable, fun, happy family they used to be?" Hermione was choking on holding back her sobs. "If we don't need a hero, then why is no one standing up for… _anything_ anymore? If everything is so _perfectly normal_, then why do I feel trapped, and alone, and why isn't my brother here to make me feel better?"

Ron sighed, defeated. He still didn't like the idea and wasn't very keen on accepting just yet. He was going to need a lot of convincing.

Hermione, growing tired of her boyfriend's stubborn attitude, grabbed him by the chin and forced him to look at her.

"Ron, listen to me. It says here in the paper," she started tapping the front page repeatedly, "that a boy matching his description was seen with a group of people in black robes and masks. It says that one man watched as they beat up this old man until he couldn't move and then, as he says, _'they tortured him in ways I can't even begin to imagine. I heard him screaming as though someone had just set his whole body on fire. When they finally left, I knew the man had to be dead. I ran to the man and saw all the blood and cuts and bruises across his body and his neck, and the look of sheer terror on his face. I ran to get the authorities but when I got back, he was gone, and all that was left was a large puddle of blood, and a torn up cloak.'_"

"He would never do that and you know it."

Hermione sighed. "Look, I know you miss him, I miss him too! But it's time to face the facts. I think Cady was right. Voldemort has him now; we're finished."

Ron looked into the depressed, dejected eyes of his girlfriend and, realizing that he probably looked just as upset, nodded slowly.

"Do you believe me now?"

"I'm not sure…" he stated softly, "I can't deny that you put up a good argument, and I know most of this is just because of my loyalty to my best friend but… I just don't know what to think anymore."

"Tell you what. I was going to try and explain this to your family at dinner tomorrow – (she ignored Ron's humorless snort which obviously meant '_Good luck'_) – and maybe once you hear the whole story you'll believe it too. Cady is going to help me and I think –"

"MJ's going to be there?" He hadn't seen much of MJ in the past six months; he hadn't even talked to her since… _that _night.

"Well yes Ron, it's her theory." That sarcastic remark sounded so much like the Hermione he knew that he almost laughed at the normalcy of it.

"Okay, okay. We'll see how this works. It you can convince my family to believe you then I will have no choice but to too. Especially if you can convince Ginny of this one, ha, good luck."

...

Out in the small town of Godric's Hallow, a young girl, in her late teens early twenties, was sitting on her bed reading the _Daily Prophet_, the wizarding newspaper in London. She was a girl with a medium height, slim figure, light brown hair, and dark brown eyes. She was reading an article about a murder on a muggle that had occurred just last night, and was disgusted by what she was seeing.

Cady Madeline Jackson was from the United States, New York City. She had moved to London when her father was transferred to work in the Auror Department. Her father was head of the Auror department in NY and her boss had wanted him to go help with the clean up from the War that the Wizarding World had just finished. They moved there when she was one year old.

However, when she was five, there was an attack on her house by rouge Death Eaters, and her mother was murdered in the struggle, and she had been forced to watch. She would have died too if the Aurors hadn't come when they did.

Ever since then, when her father started working again, she would stay at her mother's old friend Bithelda Bagshot's house. It was there that she heard the tale of one Harry James Potter.

Just down the road from where her and her father lived, where the torn up, broken down house was, an evil Dark Wizard by the name of Lord Voldemort had murdered the Potters. However, when he tried to murder little Harry, he couldn't do it. Instead, the spell backfired and destroyed Voldemort and part of the Potter's house, leaving nothing behind except for Harry, and his lightning bolt shaped scar.

She had been so taken by the story that she learned as much as she possibly could about the Potters. She learned about how they went into hiding, about how their best friend, and Harry's godfather, Sirius Black, had betrayed the Potters to Lord Voldemort, causing him to go after them. She learned about how Harry was the only person to have ever survived the Killing Curse and how he was the one who destroyed Voldemort. She learned about how Harry now lived with his Aunt, his only remaining blood relative, his mother's sister Petunia, and her family.

When she realized that Harry and herself had only been born one day apart, she realized that when she was old enough, given that she still lived in the UK, she would go to Hogwarts _with _Harry Potter. However those dreams were quickly crushed when her father was transferred back to America when she was ten years old, where she was forced to go to some small, local school of magic that was run by the New York Base for the East Coast Ministry of Magic.

When Harry started school, she followed his adventures as much as she possibly could, raving in his bravery and his talent for getting himself out of tight situations. She followed him from the time he saved that girl, Ginny Weasley, from the Chamber of Secrets, through the Tri-Wizard Tournament, where he proclaimed Voldemort had returned and no one believed him, not even her own father – but she had. She followed him through the time his godfather, Sirius Black, died in the Department of Mysteries, proclaiming him innocent of the things he was accused of on November 1st, 1981 posthumously. She also followed him through the time during his sixth year, when their headmaster, Albus Dumbledore, was almost murdered, had it not been for the quick thinking of Draco Malfoy and Severus Snape.

When she turned seventeen, when she was legally an adult in the Wizarding World, she wrote a letter to the Board of Education in London, stating that she was a transfer student and would really love to go to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. They sent the letter to Albus Dumbledore, who graciously approved stating that he would not want to interfere with a student's desire to learn.

Well she went to Hogwarts for her seventh year of education, and surprisingly, much to her great pleasure, met Harry Potter on the train ride in. She also met Hermione Granger, Ron Weasley, Neville Longbotton, Ginny Weasley, and Luna Lovegood. They all quickly became good friends throughout the school year, with her joining Dumbledore's Army without any hesitation. She quickly became a better dueler and came even closer to Harry and his gang when they fought Voldemort in a battle at Hogwarts towards the end of the year. She had even started going out with Ron's brother, Fred, and was still with him now, almost two years later.

When they graduated Hogwarts, they still remained strong, hanging out with each other as much as they could in the present time. Harry, Neville, and Ron were training with Dumbledore and Remus, learning more techniques for dueling and other methods of fighting – without magic. Hermione and herself had gotten jobs in the Ministry's Department of Mysteries, a subject that had always interested Cady greatly, also providing Hermione with the chance to learn more about magic and other things most people didn't get a chance to know. Luna and Ginny were of course, still in school at that point, so they continued with their studies for their last year of Hogwarts and their NEWT's.

Times got about as easy as things could at that point. While everyone wasn't working, they were working with the Order of the Phoenix, trying to protect people from Voldemort and his Death Eaters, and trying to protect themselves and their families.

However, everything had changed that one night, July 31, 1998.

Ever since that night things had never been the same. Cady had lost touch with Ron and Hermione and the rest of the Weasleys, except for Fred and George. Ginny, who was at one point Cady's best friend, now hated her and avoided her like the plague, and eventually she just lost all contact with everyone in the Order, which was falling apart after the deaths of two of their most important members, and the betrayal of another.

She threw herself into her work, studying up more and more as much as she could on Voldemort and ways to destroy him. She had known a long time ago about the Prophecy that linked Harry and Voldemort's destinies together, but now that that was out of the question, she needed to find another weakness.

She earned many promotions, eventually ending up as an Unspeakable in the most secretive of areas in the Department of Mysteries, reporting to the third in command from the head of the department. She got to travel all over Europe, finding and recording old or new prophecies, learning the most ancient and darkest forms of magic, and learning many things from many cultures.

Eventually, someplace up in the Scotland area, she came across a prophecy that was nearly five hundred years old. When she recorded it, she was intrigued with what she found. It sounded so… familiar, so fitting that she just had to look more into it. The more she learned, the more and more everything just started to fit. It hadn't been easy, and it hadn't been an easy feat, but she was able to come up with a theory to some part of things that just fit perfectly and made since with things that were happening in her time, which made her believe that this prophecy, even though made over five hundred years ago, was meant for things that were happening _today._ It made perfect sense to her….

The only problem would be getting the Weasleys and the Order to look at her long enough to let her explain.

...

It was dark. And quiet. That's how he liked it, quiet. It made it easier to think, to concentrate. And concentration was always important… very useful. He did not, however, particularly enjoy the dark. No, because when it's dark there are too many distractions. Too many… disadvantages. Depending on whom you are of course. But that's how it was, dark and quiet. Nothing he could do about it. Besides, it wasn't completely dark. He still had his fire, after all, no matter how dim it was at the moment. And he had his candle stick that was perched atop the wooden desk of which he was occupying at the moment, quill in hand over a piece of parchment.

He hadn't realized this would be so difficult. The thought had just come to him, and yet, he just couldn't, for the life of him, write it all down. It wasn't really that hard a concept, a prophecy. How hard is it to make a prophecy? Or at least one that makes sense. You have it, you record it, and you never think about it again. That's what prophecies were like, right? He had written down all he could remember, and it looked complete, but it felt nowhere near so. He hadn't the faintest idea who the prophecy was referring to, not that one usually did when it came to these things. But still, this one just didn't feel right.

Maybe it was just the contents of the prophecy; they made him feel rather uncomfortable. All this 'Darkness' talk really. He had defeated the Darkness years before, hadn't he? And prophecies don't usually predict the past, do they? Of course they don't, that would completely ruin the point; it would have already happened, therefore, no one to warn with the prophecy, right? So if he had defeated the Darkness, why was that _thing _mentioned here, in what he wrote, what he predicted? He had been confused ever since he got first thought of the prophecy, so he contacted someone who would most likely know what this was about. And the reply came soon after, his companion saying he would be there as soon as possible.

Merlin hated this man, but it was essential he help in this; he had been the one who aided him in his quest to 'defeat' the Darkness. It was getting late and Merlin was beginning to wonder if this man was going to show.

As if on cue, there was a loud bang, two loud _pops _and suddenly the double doors burst open with a resounding crash that made the castles walls shake.

"MERLIN!" boomed a man in the doorway. He was a fairly light skinned man with brown hair, a thin, short body, and a brown moustache that went down to his ankles.

"Yes, Godwin," Turning to greet his old 'friend', Merlin saw he had brought another. A woman, it seemed – he couldn't tell, he couldn't see any part of her body because it was covered by a large black cloak and long black robes. The only way you could tell it was a woman was by the clicking of her heels against the stones that made up the floor.

"I'm so very sorry to interrupt," Godwin started in a loud, deep voice, empty of any trace of remorse, "but as I am sure you remember, we have some rather important things we need to discuss. May I introduce you to Melinda Hewitt, a very powerful seer if I have ever met one. I am positive she will be of great assistance to our task today."

"Of course," Merlin said with forced politeness, as he walked over to greet the woman, "Charmed, I am sure." He gave a little bow and help out his hand. Melinda held out her, clean, ghostly white hand to which Merlin took and planted a kiss upon.

"I understand you have a bit of a dilemma, Merlinus?" Her voice was a low, cool, smooth one, which was soft, but perfectly clear.

"Yes, milady, I do. It seems that a prediction I have made, prophecy, I believe is the term, to which you may have some understanding?" He walked over to his desk and picked up the parchment to which he was recording the contents of the prophecy. He held it out to Melinda, who took it in both hands. He noticed on the back of the right hand was a small, lightning bold shaped tattoo. She looked down at the paper and began to read:

_The Boy of Lightning  
>Hero to the World<br>will fall to the Darkness  
>in old Hallows Grove<em>

_The Serpent Man  
>with eyes like gems<br>will lead the way  
>to Darkness descend<em>

_The Boy of Lightning  
>the Chosen One<br>will burn in his Hell  
>for years to come<em>

_The Light will conquer  
>the Darkness will fall<br>if the Chosen Few  
>unite as one<em>

_The Chosen Few  
>will fight as one<br>led together  
>by the Chosen One<em>

When she had finished reading she looked up at Merlin and stared.

"Well, what do you think the meaning is, milady?"

She stood and looked at Merlin's face, who stood and looked back into where he figured her face to be beneath the cloaks hood. She then suddenly turned and walked to the fire, heels clicking against the floor, and stared into the dying embers. She seemed thoughtful for a moment before saying,

"There could be, and possibly are, many meanings to this prophecy you have shown me, but only I shall know its initial meaning until it's complete."

"I'm sorry, but until what is complete, milady?" Merlin asked patiently. He stole a quick glance at Godwin, who was standing looking positively bored.

"Until the prophecy is complete."

They stood, Merlin looking at the woman's back, the woman staring deep into the dying flames, still seemingly still deep in thought. They remained that way for quite some time until Melinda uttered a small gasp and sharply turned around.

Looking straight at Merlin she said quietly, "Godwin, would you mind stepping out for just one moment."

"But, milady, I –"

"It was not a request, Godwin, leave; now."

"Yes milady, of course." He shot a meaningful glare at Merlin and was gone.

When Melinda came near face to face with Merlin only moments later, she took down her hood. She had pale, white skin, a thin face, green eyes, and black straight hair that fell down to her hips. She wore red lip-stick and a green stoned hair piece.

"I can see how you would be rather confused, Merlin." She said softly, her eyes empty and almost unseeing.

"How so milady?"

"Well, first the prophecy itself is unfinished, but even I doubt that you didn't already know this. Another reason is that you defeated the Darkness ten years ago with Godwin."

"Or so I thought."

"Or so you thought." She agreed quietly. She then suddenly brought her hand up to Merlin's head, pressing the palm of her hand against his forehead. Merlin closed his eyes just as Melinda's began to glow green.

"_Videat quam video_."

Merlin gasped. Never had he ever seen anything so horrifying as this. This man, a comfort to all mankind, conflicting so much pain, and despair upon his followers, his friends, and his family. It wasn't right. Blood, and curses, and tears, and depression, and that was only the beginning of it. That was only one man, and the force of the Darkness upon him. This, Merlin realized was the first part of the prophecy, and the second was the solution, but he did not yet know it, nor may he ever.

And that thought scared him.

Then as suddenly as it began, it stopped. He opened his eyes to see Melinda's eyes looking sadly into his.

"It seems… things are not as they had seemed."

"Merlin," Melinda started sadly, her eyes glossing over, "you realize what this means, what this represents, don't you?" He nodded. "Good. Do you know what caused this?" He nodded. "Do you know how you can fix it?" He shook his head. "That day in our future history will not happen for many centuries. Do you know how to get where you must go? And when?" He nodded. "You have two years. Two years starting today. In exactly two years time, I will come back to you. You will need the second half of the prophecy by then, so please do not let me down. Not fixing this leaves the future of our world to chance, and we are the only ones who can help figure out how to fix it. After that, they are on their own." He nodded again.

"Until next time Melinda."

"Yes Merlin. And remember what you saw. Know what you must do."

"Yes. I much destroy Harry Potter."

A/N: And just a little note, this is a rewrite of what I have of this story already written; because the original just didn't fit the theme I was aiming for. However, as much as I tried to rewrite the Merlin scene, I just couldn't do it, and I'm not happy with the results. I'm a perfectionist, I can't help it. Anyway, don't be afraid to review to ask questions, because this may only going be the second or third chapter, but it's about to get confusing. :) (But in the cool way) ((I hope))


	3. Chapter 2: Prophecies and Princes

Disclaimer: I own nothing. Everything belongs to JK Rowling. She still refuses to share...

A/N: Quick note. This is the version I originally wrote because I didn't have the time, energy, or patience to rewrite this. I don't like how it's written, but I don't know how to change it.

* * *

><p>Chapter 3: Prophecies<p>

The Dark Prince was lying in his bed in his bedroom at Malfoy Manor, staring blankly up at the ceiling.

"I'm bored."

"Then go do something."

The Prince sat up abruptly, turning to look at his servant. "Go do something? _Go do something? _Incompetent fool, if I could go do something do you really think I would be here right now?"

"N-no s-sir, I s-suppose n-not."

"Git," The Prince mumbled arrogantly under his breath.

"M-may I ask, sir, w-why you cannot l-leave?"

"Do you ever stop stuttering?" He asked conceitedly. "Never mind. I can't leave because the Dark _Lord _wants me to stay rested for the attack on some place he won't tell me about, and you know what? Staying rested is _boring_! I want to go do something! He knows how restless I've been lately!"

"He only c-cares for your well being," Wormtail stuttered frightened.

"Ha! _Cares?_ Are you actually dumber than you look? He doesn't _care _for anyone but himself! Him and his damn power issues…." He mumbled loudly under his breath.

He stood up and walked over to his wardrobe and looked at his reflection in the mirror. His black hair was sleeked back and he had a red stripe running through the right side of it. His deathly white skin made his almond shaped red eyes, which shined with irritation and anger, stand out heavily.

"Why do I even try…?" He whispered to himself. Unfortunately, Wormtail heard him.

"Try what, sir?"

"Why do I try to put up with you?" he spat. He sighed heavily.

"If he _cares _about me so much, why does he insist on protecting me from everything? Why does he keep me locked up in here almost all the time? I mean, as much as I love her, Arianna's been getting really boring a lot more quickly lately."

"I don't know, sir."

"And that's another thing," he hissed, turning to look Wormtail in the eyes. "Why will nobody give me a straight forward answer around here? Not even _she _will tell me anything."

"I don't know, sir."

"Well figure it out!" He spat, suddenly irritated.

"I'm sure the Dark Lord has his reasons."

"Yes, well, if his reasons involve me, then why not tell me?"

"I don't know sir."

"Oh sweet Merlin, I am so _tired _of hearing that! Well, he better have a good reason for not telling me," he turned suddenly towards the voices talking outside the doors and shouted, "Because it's REALLY PISSING ME OFF!" The voices got quiet for a moment before someone muttered something, someone's chair scraped the floor, and footsteps started towards the door.

"Oh, give me a break…" the Prince mumbled under his breath. Suddenly the doors opened and a man in a Death Eater's mask and robes stood in the entryway. The Prince walked back to his bed, gripping a post, before snapping "_What?_"

"Do I need to bring you your goblet, my Prince?" He asked in an irritatingly calm voice.

He looked at the Death Eater for a moment before turning and falling back onto the bed while letting out an exasperated yell.

"No, but you _can _get out of my sight, you too Wormtail."

When they turned to walk out the door, the Prince suddenly yelled, "Wait!

"When he's done doing whatever crap he's doing, tell your Dark _'Lord' _that we _need_ to talk."

When they reached the meeting table, they gave each other a nervous glance before telling the Dark Lord the Dark Princes request. At the announcement, all the Death Eaters gave each other a tense look. Everyone knew the Dark Price was seriously angry.

That never bode well.

* * *

><p>"We have something we need to tell you."<p>

They were sitting in the living room at the Burrow before tea waiting for MJ to show. Everyone had been unnaturally quiet (which had grown to be more natural over the past few months) and still when Hermione's tedious voice broke through the silence.

"I think we need to talk," she said, her voice a little more gusty.

"What about, Hermione?" Mr. Weasley asked.

"Well, me and Ron, err, we, uh, that is to say…"

"Hermione," Mrs. Weasley asked from the kitchens, "you're not pregnant are you?"

"What! No!" Hermione stuttered while everyone snickered, "No, of course not, I –"

"You better not be." Ron mumbled under his breath.

"I'm not pregnant!" Hermione nearly shouted exasperatedly. "I wanted to talk about, well…" she stole a glance at Ginny before continuing, "I wanted to talk about Harry."

Everyone got unnaturally quiet once more. You could practically feel the tension in the air as everyone kept shooting curious looks at Hermione, and concerned looks at Ginny, both of whom were looking at the floor. Nobody brought up Harry anymore, especially after that night, and especially not around Ginny. And everyone thought Hermione had a lot of nerve bringing it up so randomly, especially in from of Ginny.

"I thought we were going to wait until Cady got here?" Ron whispered to his wife.

"What does Cady have to do with anything? Is she okay?" Fred blurted suddenly looking even more worried than before.

"She's fine, it's just, she knows more about the situation and it is her theory, but –"

"Well why don't we just wait for Cady then?" Ginny said sharply, staring daggers at Hermione.

After that everything got real quiet again, only this time there was a thick tension in the air that could only be contributed to Hermione's sudden outburst and Ginny's new found irritability that had everyone afraid to say something that resulted in them ended up on the receiving end of a Bat Bogey Hex. That silence was interrupted a few minutes later by the sound of someone coming through the back door. Everyone jumped until they heard an old voice some of the occupants' hadn't heard in months.

"I'm here!" Cady's voice startled quite a few people. Ginny kept shooting angry glances at the place where her voice had come from and Hermione and Fred were about to get up and warn her about what Hermione had said earlier when she came walking through the doorway.

"Sorry I'm late," she said as she walked to give Fred a hug and a quick kiss, "But Neville called and said he had to… whoa." She looked around the room and saw that Ginny looked peeved and Hermione looked nervous. _This can't be good, _she thought as she sat down between Fred and George.

"No need to get too excited," Cady said, her voice dripping with sarcasm, and a small grin to go with her slight attempt at humor, "I mean, I know I haven't seen you guys in months, but honestly, don't get too over enthused." She looked again back and forth between Hermione and Ginny and could feel the grin sliding off her face, replaced by one of weary seriousness.

"Seriously, guys the tension in here is thick enough to kill. What's up?" She looked to Fred who merely nodded towards Hermione and shrugged. She looked at Hermione who shrugged and nodded at Ginny and then mouthed 'Harry'.

"Oh. You guys already started?"

"Yes." Hermione said stiffly while looking at the floor.

"Well that was pretty stupid; whose bright idea was that?"

"Mine." Hermione said defensively. Cady knew it was her but she still wanted to say what she knew would tick Hermione off.

"Well, what did she tell you?" _Couldn't have been much, _she thought as she looked around the room to see that Ginny looked more angry at Cady than anything else and everyone seemed more worried about Ginny than anything.

"She said you know what happened to Harry, so talk." Ginny's tone surprised Cady. Her and Ginny had always been rather good friends and she couldn't think of any reason she would sound like that.

"She did, did she?" She asked through gritted teeth. Looking at Hermione she saw Hermione was giving Ginny a look that clearly said, 'What is your problem?" and Ginny's look clearly said she was angry at Cady for some reason.

"Yes she did," Ginny nearly shouted, "so are you going to tell us what happened to Harry or not?"

"I never said she knew what happened to Harry, Ginny, so shush."

"You might as well have, you did say—"

"Ginny," Mr. Weasleys voice came through and he sounded stern, if not a little weary. "She said Cady had a theory about Harry, that doesn't mean she knows what happened to him. Let's just listen to what she had to say, and see where we go from there, okay?"

While Ginny continued to huff on in her armchair, Arthur tuned to Cady and said, "What do you need to talk to us about, dear. Hermione made it sound rather important."

Cady stole a quick glance at Ginny and Hermione before saying, "Thank you, Mr. Weasley, and yes it is rather important."

She looked again around the room one more time and let her gaze rest upon Ginny. Not necessarily Ginny, but some point just over her shoulder.

"Well, what Hermione said was I have a theory about Harry, correct?" Everyone nodded. "Okay, in answer to Ginny's question, I'm not going to tell you what happened to Harry because I don't know… exactly."

"What do you mean by 'exactly', MJ?" Fred's voice was calm and soft, but she could tell he was just as worried as the rest of them.

"It means, Fred, I have a theory, but it also means you're not going to like it." Ginny gave a sharp little hollow laugh before Cady got up and started pacing and continuing.

"It's a really complicated theory that's been going around the Department of Mysteries, more particular, in the Hall of Prophecies, where I've recently been assigned. I don't know all the details, no one does, but I'll explain it best I can." She was talking a little more quickly and was beginning to sound a little nervous, but no one interrupted her. Everyone just sat and watched as she seemed to be doing some very heavy thinking, when finally she stopped and looked at everyone in turn before stopping on Fred.

"What you have to understand is… once I tell you this, you're a part of it and there's no going back. Knowing this puts your life on the line, and if you're not willing to take that risk you might as well leave now." She was not surprised when nobody moved, but was rather surprised when Ginny spoke.

"Cady," she said her name as if it were paining her to do so, "what you're about to tell us… does it have anything to do with Harry?"

"Possibly, but my best bet would be on yes, I'm pretty sure it does."

"Well then we want to help." Fred's voice was softer than Ginny's, but it sounded just as pained, although for different reasons. "What you have to understand is that we'd go to Hell and back to save Harry, and nothing can stop that."

"I realize that. And far be it from me to keep you guys out of what's going to be a very… 'exciting' adventure. I'm just merely thinking that I don't think it would help Harry much if any of you lost your life in the process of saving him. Knowing him, he'd probably blame himself."

"Be that as it may," George added, "We are not just going to sit here while there's a chance we can save Harry from whatever's happened to him. He's like my brother, and I'd walk through fire to save him." Cady saw everyone nodded in agreement as she looked around the room.

"Don't worry about us, MJ." Fred said soothingly, "We know what were getting into, and it's what we want to do. Just worry about yourself and Harry." He got up and gave her a quick hug and a kiss on her head, before he sat down, taking her with him.

"Alright, but if anyone gets hurt don't say I didn't warn you. There's only three people working on this right now, and I already had, well, what's left of two of them dumped on my doorstep in a body bag." She shuddered involuntarily as Fred gave her another quick hug.

"Okay, well there's this prophecy—"

"What prophecy, the one about Harry and Voldemort?" Ginny ignored when everyone in the room (save Cady and Hermione) flinched at the name.

"No, but it ties into that prophecy—"

"You mean Harry's involved in more than one prophecy?"

"Yes, that's what I'm trying to—"

"What prophecy are you talking about?"

"Merlin's Prophecy or The Prophecy of the Chosen One or The Prophecy of the Chosen Few or Prophecy of the Falling Light or Prophecy of the Rising Darkness. It has many, many names but those are the most popular in the Department."

"Prophecy of the Chosen One," Ginny asked slowly, "Wouldn't that be about… you know…."

"I'm getting to that," Cady said impatiently as she began digging in her backpack. "The prophecy is, in short, about the rise of the Darkness and the fall of the Light."

"What's the Darkness?" Charlie asked a frown forming on his face.

"The Darkness," Cady began, "is a magical being – or creature, I guess – that was supposedly destroyed by Merlin in the late tenth century."

"What do you mean by 'supposedly'?" Mr. Weasley asked. "How did he destroy it the last time?"

"Yeah, funny story that, um… no one knows," Cady said with a humorless chuckle. "Godwin and Merlin supposedly wrote it down on some secret tomb in a code no one but them can understand. But then Merlin died… or was destroyed or… whatever happened with that Lady of the Lake thing. People thought Godwin had it for a while, but that was supposedly destroyed in the fire that killed Godwin and burned down his palace and the entire Godwin's Hallow. They never told anyone or wrote it down or anything anywhere else, so that could be a problem."

Everyone grew quiet pondering the consequensis of what Cady had just said when they were interrupted by a cry from the latter.

"I found it!" she said in a triumphed voice.

"Well, go on." Ginny said slowly and sarcastically, as if talking to a slow person.

"Alright…" with one more glance around the room she started to read.

_The Boy of Lightning  
>Hero to the World<br>will fall to the Darkness  
>in old Hallows Grove<em>

_The Serpent Man  
>with eyes like gems<br>will lead the way  
>to Darkness descend<em>

_The Boy of Lightning  
>the Chosen One<br>will burn in his Hell  
>for years to come<em>

_The Light will conquer  
>the Darkness will fall<br>if the Chosen Few  
>unite as one<em>

_The Chosen Few  
>will fight as one<br>led together  
>by the Chosen One<em>

When Cady looked up from her paper, she looked at everyone and saw they all had surprised looks on their faces while some were mixed with worry and confusion or just looking downright confused.

"Well," Cady said expectantly when everyone continued to stare at her, "Start conversing! What do you think it means?"

"How did that first part go again?" Hermione asked coming out of her shock first.

"_Boy of Lightning, Hero to the World, will fall to the Darkness, in old Hallows Grove…"_

"Well obviously they're talking about Harry, with all that 'Boy of Lightning' rubbish, but what the hell was up with that 'old Hallows Grove' thing?"

"Oh, I don't know Ron," Cady said, her voice dripping in sarcasm, "When you hear 'old Hallows Grove' and Harry Potter in the same sentence, what does that make you think of?"

When Ron didn't answer they all heard Ginny whisper "Grodric's Hallow."

"Oh, yeah, forgot about that…"

"Well, I'm sure he's glad you can…." Ginny mumbled to herself, but everyone heard her.

"Yes, well, moving on… '_The Serpent Man, with eyes like gems, will the way, to Darkness descend…. _Obviously it's talking about Voldemort awakening the Darkness, if that's what this _thing _is, and using it to control the Wizarding and Muggle worlds," everyone nodded their agreement, so Cady chose to continue.

"_'The Boy of Lightning, the Chosen One, will burn in his Hell, for years to come….' _I think it means Harry will fall to the darkness for 'years to come', what do you think?"

"What does it mean 'burn in his Hell'?" Mrs. Weasley asked frightened.

"Well, Mrs. Weasley, to be honest with you, I think that… well I'll explain that when I tell you about this Darkness…."

"Years," Ginny whispered in a timid voice, "it's only been six months since he's disappeared. What do they mean by years?"

"I think it means that this is only the beginning." Cady said quietly. Ginny quickly went pale, but when she just continued to stare at the paper in Cady's hands, Cady took it as permission to continue.

"'_The Light will conquer, the Darkness will fall, if the Chosen Few, unite as one….' _This is the part that has everyone confused, so before you say anything let me read the last line.

"'_The Chosen Few, will fight as one, let together, by the Chosen One….' _And then it just ends. That's why the Department thinks it's incomplete, because it doesn't mention anything else about these 'Chosen Few' and they have never heard of anything or anyone like that before. I mean, we obviously know who the Chosen One is and what he does, but this whole 'Chosen Few' thing has everyone getting a bit frantic."

"Why?" George asked.

"Because they think these 'Chosen Few' are the answer to our problems and that they are the ones who will conquer what the Department thinks is the Darkness once and for all with Harry, but we know nothing about them! All in all, they're afraid that if we don't figure out whom these people are and use them to save Harry that whatever's going on nowadays is never going to stop and then… Voldemort wins."

Everyone got quiet again before Charlie asked, "Okay, so what exactly is this Darkness thing and how bad it?"

"It's a rather long story, and I don't like too many interruptions," Cady now had a rather serious voice, like the ones people used at work meetings and such. "Are you sure you guys are up to it? It might take a while." They all nodded, Ginny a little reluctantly.

"Okay, Charlie, in answer to your question, yes this Darkness 'thing', as you so bluntly put it," Cady started smiling slightly at Charlie, "is a pretty bad thing."

"How bad," Ron asked timidly.

"What it does it possesses people when they are feeling most vulnerable; like when you're sad or angry or scared. But it has to be a really strong emotion. It can also work if you're not feeling loved or if you're feeling hated, which would give us a reason as to why Voldemort can control the Darkness: he can't love."

"So," Charlie said slowly and tepidly, "What's this about Merlin's Centuries Years Sleep Hermione was arguing about earlier?"

"Ah," Cady said, glad someone (who wasn't Hermione, who knew about that already) got to the point she was trying to steer them to. "Well… this story's going to take a while, so you might as well get comfortable." Once everyone had sat down with their dinner (even though no one was eating anything), Cady began her story.

"I can distinctly remember my father telling me a story about a powerful dark wizard named Godwin, who had control over most of Europe and Euro-Asia. He controlled all the lands and the people, and created dark creatures and spirits using a beast or spirit called the Darkness. For nearly fifty years, the people in Europe were in terror and despair because of these creatures, spirits, and even Godwin himself.

"Then, one day, along came another powerful wizard, a wizard of the Light who was known for 'protecting' people from dark wizards: Merlin. Merlin was powerful in many ways, and many people considered him to be more powerful than the Darkness because 'The Beast', as they called it, could not control him. Of course this was because Merlin was not self-loathing or walloping in despair and because he knew how to love, but they didn't know that.

"When Merlin came to this kingdom in the UK where Godwin spent most of his time, he saw the damage that Godwin had conflicted, and it infuriated him. He didn't like that Godwin just sat around and watched in amusement as these people were injured and killed by Godwin's followers.

"Merlin decided to show Godwin the error of his ways, but he had no idea what had possessed him to become such a liable recourse for The Darkness. After much research, he found that Godwin was a once a child of murder. He had lost all his family at a very young age and he was filled with sorrow and guilt and anger, but no love; no one had been around to teach him to love."

"This story sounds like a couple of people we know…" Ron whispered. Cady heard Hermione whisper for him to be quiet; Cady looked over and saw Hermione was very engrossed with the story.

"Anyway, Merlin found a way to approach Godwin; he disguised himself as a follower of the man. When he reviled himself to Godwin, he was furious. The Darkness inside Godwin took over, and many a time he tried to kill Merlin, but Merlin _was _more powerful than him, because he could love, and was able to defend himself, even if was still rather difficult: they were both still _pretty _powerful. Once Merlin had Godwin pinned down and locked up so he would not attack again, he 'talked' with Godwin about his misery and how what he was doing was _not _the way to handle it."

"Sounds like Dumbledore." Ginny said quietly. _This is going good, _Cady thought hopefully, _maybe they'll be more helpful than I thought._

"Once Godwin was forced to hear what Merlin said, he felt a change of heart and fought against the Darkness's clutches. It was not easy, but he managed to do it in a matter of weeks. Although he seemed a different man, Merlin knew that someone who had been in the Darkness's control would never be fully brought back to the Light again, and that Godwin would get desperate once more and fall back into the clutches of the Darkness, but he had to worry about such things later, as the Darkness was growing angry.

"What happened after that, to Godwin and Merlin?" Hermione was obviously very interested in wizarding history she had never heard of before.

"Well, when they went to destroy the Darkness, it used its powers to give Godwin a little taste of what it could do that it hadn't already shown Godwin. I don't know what said it did, but it must have been pretty convincing because Godwin almost caved and gave into it, if had not been for Merlin. Merlin reminded him what the Darkness had already done, and how letting the Darkness take over him was not the way to get rid of his pain. He was able to get Godwin out of his ravine long enough to help him put down the Darkness, but it was too late.

"When the deed was done, and the Darkness was down, Godwin lost it and said he wanted his power back, but Merlin steadfastly refused. Godwin was furious. He ran off to all kinds of different lands to round up the creatures he had gained trust and respect from and he used them to attack Merlin. However, when he tried to attack Merlin, Merlin used his elemental powers to call upon the elements and force back the attack."

"What kind of creatures were they?" _Merlin Hermione, _Cady thought exasperatedly, _I'm trying to make a point, not teach History of Magic._ She decided to answer anyway.

"Well, let's see… the list is rather long… there were Acromantula, Chimaeras, different types of Dragons, Manticore, Dementors, Nundus, Quintapeds,. I think he even tried to get a couple Lethifolds, but they couldn't survive the cold climates here, especially in the winter. But he used all kinds of things; even a giant and some Banshee. Maybe even a Vampire, who knows? He had all kinds of dark things on his side, because they were, you know, dark, like him."

"That's a lot of types of creatures…" George mumbled.

"That's almost every high classification Magical Creature there is!" Hermione shrieked.

"Yes, well, back to the story, Merlin used the elements to force back the attack. Again, this infuriated Godwin and so he dueled with Merlin. Merlin won eventually by using all his powers to strip Godwin of his powers so Godwin could not control, or be controlled anything anymore. I guess you could say it was a bit of a bittersweet moment for Godwin, huh? But anyway, many other wizards in history have tried to reawaken the Darkness, but nothing has worked; until now apparently.""

Everyone just sat there and stared at Cady, shock evident on their faces.

"What?" Cady asked, "You've never heard this before?" They all shook their heads. Then a small voice in the corner spoke.

"What does this have to do with—"

"Like I said Ginny, it's a long and _complicated _story; one that's just chop full of prophecies and legends."

"Prophec_ies_? You mean there's more than one?" Bill nearly yelled in surprise.

"Yes, it's the one about Harry and Voldemort… you never told them about that one, did you?" Cady asked turning to Hermione and Ron.

"No," Hermione said wearily, "Harry didn't want to worry them, although I'm pretty sure Ginny figured it out for herself." She glanced at Ginny, who was nodding slowly, a far off look on her face.

"Oh." Cady was at a loss for words. Although… it _did _sound like something Harry would do. "Whatever. You tell them about it, since Harry _obviously_ told you."

"But you work in the Hall of Prophecies! Harry had to tell some Unspeakable the contents of the prophecy last year because they needed a new record of it in the Hall! That would entitle you to know what it says, if you're working on this case!"

"Yeah, so, what do you want me to do about it? You guys are his friends why don't you do it?"

"You're his friend too!"

"You've known him longer."

"I don't want to have to tell them something like that!"

"Neither do I, but I've been talking for the last hour and a half, so why don't you do some—"

"ENOUGH!" They all looked over at Ginny as she yelled. She looked frustrated and angry. "Will SOMEBODY tell us what the bloody hell you guys are talking about!"

"Fine," Hermione yelled defeated. Then she started talking so fast and irritated that everyone was struggling to catch up with her. "There was a prophecy made by Trelawney about Harry and Voldemort the basically said that either Harry will kill Voldemort or Voldemort will kill Harry, but they can't both survive!" Everyone except Ron blanched at the news and started to look utterly terrified.

"_The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches… born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies. And the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have the power the Dark Lord knows not. And either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives." _Cady said it almost lazily, twirling her wand in her hand and looking dreamily at the ceiling, looking _extremely _like Luna Lovegood. Everyone just looked even more frightened.

"'Either must die at the hand of the other'… that means that Harry has to kill Voldemort, right?"

"Or be killed by him. Or they could both die I suppose… it doesn't necessarily say that one of them _has _to live." Cady said calmly as an afterthought as Fred went pale along with the rest of the Weasleys.

"Now that we all know this, let's get back to the whole Godwin thing right quick here: there's more to it." Everyone turned to Cady, faces still a little white, and looking just as frightened.

"To add to all of this, I still need to tell you guys about Godwin's Legend." She pulled another piece of paper out of her folder and began to read.

"'Godwin's Legend: _In the days of Darkness a powerful man will rule the lands by magic, and dark creatures who will do his bidding. He will be brought down by another power mind, more powerful than he, whom will help him see the Light and the error of his ways. Together they will use their powers to defeat the Darkness, one losing sight again along the way. He will be destroyed by his equal, and become eternal enemies, but are never cross towards each other again. Centuries later, when the Darkness returns, the two enemies will return to the Earth to save the world and help the Chosen One. A bloody sacrifice will be made while murder and death will save lead the way."_

Everyone just sat and looked at Cady as slight comprehension dawned on Hermione and Ron's faces, although they didn't say anything.

"Anyone get what I'm trying to say, because this Legend is pretty much pointless until we figure out the prophecy and the 'Chosen Few' rubbish that comes with it?" Everyone slowly started shaking their heads."Well, let's just get on with what you guys need to understand first. Okay, maybe if I go into further detail I can get this to seep into your brains that seem to be going so unusually slow today!"

"You mean there's more?" Ron practically whined.

"Ron," Ginny shouted, "this is your best friend we're talking about and all you can do is whine about how long this has taken?"

"Yeah, well, we've been talking for nearly two and a half hours and I'm hungry!"

"Is that all you can think about, food? You've got food right in front of you, you great git!"

"No! I care about Harry just as much as you guys do, but I still don't believe what she's trying to tell you lot!"

"Oh, that's rich—"

"_Enough!_" Cady shouted. "Look, Ron, I know you don't like this and I know you don't want to have to listen to this again, but sit down and _shut up _so I can get on with this and you can leave!"

"But I don't—"

"Shut up!" Ron slumped back in his seat defeated.

"_Anyway,_" Cady tried again, "let me explain this better. So, we all know that this prophecy is about Harry, right?" They nodded.

"It does make Harry sound like 'The Chosen One', though, right?" They nodded. "So in that Prophecy of the Rising Darkness thing where it talks about the 'boy of lightning' and 'the chosen one', it would only make sense to conclude that that's Harry, right?" More nods.

"Just to clarify, do we all understand this 'Prophecy of the Rising Darkness' stuff?" Even more nods. "Good. Oh, and one more thing before I wrap this whole thing up, have any of you heard of the Dark Prince?" Some nods, some shakes. _About the best I could hope for, _Cady thought bitterly.

"Okay. So those of you who know of the Dark Prince know of him through the Ministry, correct?" Nods.

"For those of you who don't know," she continued, looking at Mrs. Weasley, Fred, George, Ginny, and Charlie in the eyes, "the Dark Prince is basically Voldemort's—oh get a grip—right hand man. If Voldemort isn't there, the Dark Prince is. He appeared about six months ago, I think. The only two differences between the two is that, one, the Dark Prince actually looks human, on certain terms, and that, two, he doesn't kill; at least, not directly. Those reports you see of people bleeding to death, or being _Crucio'd _so much that their heart just stops? That's the Dark Prince. The ones you see that say Killing Curse, those are most likely Death Eaters or Voldemort."

"And you know all this… how?" Fred asked slowly.

"Because I work for the Department of Mysteries, that's why. I haven't seen the guy up front if that's what you're asking."

"Just making sure," He said, earning him a slap on the back of the head from his girlfriend.

"Anyhow, back to Harry, can one of you tell me what Harry's worst fear was?"

"Losing everything he loves," Ginny answered immediately.

"Okay… not what I was… Ron, Hermione, do you know what Harry's _second _worst fear was?"

"I think it was to become a murderer, you know, killing Voldemort and all that."

"Thank you, Ron. To become a murderer, that's the one. And, uh, what happened just before Harry was 'killed' so to speak."

"He killed—oh."

"Exactly, Bill. Gold star for you! Onto another topic I'd like to clarify, how long ago did Harry disappear, or 'die', I suppose?"

"Why do you keep talking like Harry's still—"

"Ginny, sweetheart, do me a favor right quick, and shut up so I can get this over with." Ginny looked outraged at Cady, but she sat back in her chair with her mouth shut anyway.

"So, how long ago did Harry disappear?"

"About six months, wasn't it?" George said.

"Yes, thank you. See, I knew you guys had brains. Okay, quick review; when did the Dark Prince show up?"

"About six months ago." Hermione said matter-of-factly.

"Right, you guys getting anything yet?" Everybody except Hermione and Ron shook their heads, although Ron had a look of great disdain on his face.

"Oh boy, Okay, here, let me spell it out for you. Harry Potter, the almighty 'Chosen One' disappeared approximately six months ago after killing… killing… yeah. Then this Dark Prince, who for some odd reason refuses to kill anything—well, intentionally, anyway, just like Harry, appears about a month later, right?" They all nodded. "Do you get what I'm saying NOW?" Some people shook their heads, others nodded, and Ginny looked simply outraged.

She sat up, face red, shaking with anger, and, looking Cady straight in the eyes, shouted, "NO! I DO NOT WANT TO HEAR IT! HE IS NOT EVIL AND HE IS NOT A MURDERER, AND I AM NOT GOING TO SIT HERE AND LISTEN TO _YOU _OF ALL PEOPLE, TELL ME OTHERWISE!" And with that she turned and started towards the stairs, but Cady's voice stopped her. She spoke in an irritatingly calm voice that only succeeded on infuriating Ginny even more.

"So, you'd rather him be dead than possessed by the Voldemort where we would still be able to save him?"

"Don't you dare," Ginny whispered in a deathly calm voice, tears in her eyes, "say anything like that to me; _ever._ Of course I'd rather him not be dead, but it's easier to accept that than it is to except that that… that _monster _out there, doing all those things, is Harry." She then turned on her heel, and stormed up the stairs, but paused when she heard Cady say, in a strong, firm voice, "That may be the easier choice, but if there were ever a time to choose between what is _right_ and what is _easy_, it would be _now._"

Ginny stood at the stairs for another minute before running up and slamming her door so loud it made many of the rooms occupants flinch.

"What the bloody hell was that about." Obviously, George still didn't understand what Cady was trying to tell them. Cady, Hermione, and Ron glanced at each other, then they turned to the rest as Cady took a deep breath and said,

"Due to the evidence we, that is to say, I, have supplied tonight, I have very good reason, and evidence, to believe that…" She looked over towards the stairs that Ginny had just stormed up, and out the window, over to the front yard and to the patch of garden that was the place they last saw Harry…. she took a deep breath and continued, sighing,

"I have good reason to believe that Harry Potter is now the Dark Prince, Voldemort's right hand man."

* * *

><p>AN: Just so you know, this is an AU story that is Canon through book five, but is AU from there. Voldemort is simply… well I'm not going to tell you. Why Snape never killed Dumbledore is explained later in the story. I'm trying to make the chapters longer, so bear with me. The next couple of chapters are going to be pretty short because not much is happening, but it will get better from there.

What I wanted to warn you is that I'm not completely sure that this chapter makes sense to everybody. I mean, it makes sense to me, but I know what happens, so I know what it's trying to say. You don't, so if it doesn't make sense, review and tell me and I'll fix it. I'm not very happy with this chapter. It didn't turn out exactly how I wanted it to, but I can't think if any ways to change it. I hope it makes sense otherwise I'd feel really stupid.

And Cady's name is pronounced like Katie, but with a D (for those who don't know)


	4. Chapter 3: That Night

Chapter3: That Night

Ginny Weasley sat, crying her eyes out, by on the window seat in her old bedroom. She had stormed upstairs before she had dinner, after the family had a ludicrous conversation about Cady's lunatic statement that… no. It was too much to think about, even after all this time. Thinking about Harry, six months after the attack, still make her heart ache with this intense sadness and anger and longing for her old boyfriend. No one had seen him since the night he died… or disappeared… or was kidnapped or whatever it was that had happened to him _that night _all those months ago….

* * *

><p>It had been a really nice day, considering everything that was going on in the Wizarding World right now. What with the war, and Voldemort, and his Death Eaters cronies almost everywhere you turned, a day such as that this one had been was rather hard to come by.<p>

It had all started that morning, July 31, 19981997. Molly Weasley was in the kitchen of the Burrow making breakfast for her family of nearly ten people. As the hours past every household member (all the Weasleys and Remus had stayed at the Burrow that weekend) came down to eat the famous Molly Weasley cooking and, as usual, Harry and Ron were the last one's down.

"Good morning everyone, wonderful day, isn't it?" Harry cheered, bending down and kissing Ginny's cheek before stealing a piece of bacon and sitting in the chair next to hers.

"What's got you in such a good mood today?" Ginny asked surprised at seeing Harry so chipper; a very rare sight to see nowadays.

"I don't know he's been like that all morning, it's actually rather slightly unnerving to be honest." Ron said, grinning at how happy Harry was.

Harry turned to her, face looking relaxed; eyes narrowed thoughtfully before he draped one arm across her shoulders and leaned in close to whisper in her ear, "No idea." Then he gave her a quick kiss on the lips before pulling back quickly and eating his own breakfast that Mrs. Weasly had placed in front of him. Everyone just kept looking at Harry shocked; nobody had seen him this excited in months.

"Come on Harry," Fred chided with a wide grin and a twinkle in his eye, "you never this chipper! What's up?"

"Nothing, honest," Although it was easy to tell he was lying by the way his grin kept getting wider with every question asked.

"Are you sure dear?" Mrs. Weasley asked smiling slightly at Harry's excitedness. This was a boy who was usually so serious lately that to see him with his guard down was really a sight to see.

"Well…" Harry chided, playing for time and toying with their emotions, "if you must know—"

"Yes," Fred said slyly

"You know we must," George said with a mischievous grin.

"If you must know… I got a letter."

"A letter?" Fred asked, sounding a little disappointed.

"Yes, a letter."

"What did it say?"

"What letter, Harry?" Hermione asked, her eyes now also shining with excitement.

"Oh, y' know… _my _letter. That one I've been waiting for since Merlin knows when…."

Everyone jumped as Hermione gave a happy squeal and turned to look at Harry and Ginny with shining eyes.

"I'll talk to you two," Harry said, pointing his egg laden fork at Ron and Hermione, "later. Not now though; , I'm not in the mood."

"What the hell are you two talking about?"

"Oh, Ron, we'll tell you later."

"Whatever," Ron said as he turned back for thirds on the bacon.

Everyone just looked at the three of them with confused expressions until finally they decided they weren't going to be able to divulge anymore information, so they all turned back to their food.

"So Harry," Ginny asked when breakfast was over, "what would you like to do today?"

"I don't know. Why don't we go play Quidditch for a while?"

"Whatever you want Potter," she whispered. She then pulled back quickly and shouted "I call Charlie!" the same time Ron called, "I call Harry!" Then suddenly Ginny and Ron are were in a heated argument with while Charlie trying tried to calm them down.

"We can't have two seekers Ron, there aren't enough people!"

"Well I just thought Harry should be his favorite position since it is Harry's birthday you know!"

"Oh, you're just saying that because you know we would win because we have Charlie anyway!"

"That makes no sense—"

"Shut up already," Bill yelled over them. "Ginny, look, we wouldn't be able to play with one seeker anyway. I never thought I'd say this but Ron is right. It's Harry's birthday so he should pick first. Harry?"

They all looked around and saw Harry whispering excitedly with Hermione and Mrs. Weasley.

"Harry!"

"What?" He asked looking up still smiling excitingly.

"Quidditch problem; , over here," Bill said exasperatingly, waving his hands in Ron and Ginny's general direction.

"Oh, yes, Quidditch. Um… how about… me Charlie and Charlie I are seekers—Ginny don't start—Ron keeps keeps for both teams, Fred and George are beaters and Bill and Ginny are chasers. Only one chaser and beater a team, that way Ginny can have Charlie and Ron can just side with my team."

"What about us?" Asked a voice from behind him as Cady, Neville, Luna, Lee Jordon, and Angelina Johnson came in the back door.

"MJ, why must you always over come over and complicate things?" Harry asked half-jokingly, half-serious.

"Oh, like your one to talk," she said sarcastically. "Besides, it's my job," she added as an afterthought as she walked over to hug Fred.

"Okay, well now you and Angelina are here so we can each have two chasers," Ginny said as though that finalized it. "Lee, you keep keep right? Good you can be on my team."

"Aw, but I play seeker, not chaser!" MJ proclaimed pretending to pout.

"Well then you should have come here _on time_," Harry joked, while Cady stuck her tounge out at him. "Now, pick your poison. Whose team you want to be on?"

Cady stepped forward and look scrutinizing at the two teams. "Well, I'm torn. I want to be on Harry's team, because I know they'll win, but I can't tell if that's Fred or George on his team."

"What?" Fred, George, and Ginny exclaimed together.

"You can't tell—"

"-Which one of us—"

"-Is is your boyfriend?"

"What do you mean you know he'll win," Ginny asked incredulously, although everyone ignored her.

"Aw, now you made me feel bad." She walked over to Fred and George and looked them both over for a minute before stepping back and saying happily, "No damn clue!"

One of the twins suddenly stepped forward, grabbed Cady, and kissed her full on the lips. After a few seconds he pulled back and looked at her smugly. Cady, getting what was going onfeeling mischievous, decided to trick them instead.

"Oh…" Cady said, pretending to be faint and weak-kneed. "_Hel-lo _to you too George!"

Everyone laughed at the matching gob smacked look on the twins faces before heading out for an intense game of Quidditch.

* * *

><p>"Harry! Harry, please… stop!" Ginny cried, laughing and gasping for breath.<p>

"Never," Harry laughed with an amused gleam in his eyes.

They were lying on the floor in the sitting room in the Burrow shortly after Harry's big birthday dinner. Lee and Angelina had left earlier; giggling madly, saying they had some… things… they needed to take care of. ("I bet those _things _involve Angelina figuring out if Lee wears boxers or briefs," George had grumbled grumpily.) Cady and Fred were snuggled up on the couch while George and Angelina Remus were watching and laughing at Harry and Ginny's antics along with everyone else, except Bill and Ron, who seemed to be arguing over something. Probably the Quidditch game again.

After Cady convinced Fred to join Harry's team, ("We all know they're going to win anyway, so I might as well save myself the humiliation.") they had played for nearly four hours straight. After Ron's twenty-fifth save of Cady's horrible quaffle tossed—("I told you, I'm a seeker, definitely not chaser material!")—Harry and Charlie had spotted the snitch at the same time. But of course Charlie was no match for Harry's superior seeking skills, and missed the Snitch when Fred knocked a Bludger at him. Now they were just relaxing, trying to enjoy what was left of the first beautiful day in weeks."—Harry and Charlie had spotted the snitch at the same time. But of course Charlie was no match for Harry's superior seeking skills, and missed the snitch when Fred knocked a bludger at him. Now they were just relaxing, trying to enjoy what was left of the first beautiful day in weeks.

"Harry, will you _please_… stop?"

"Depends," Harry said pausing his endless tickle torture of his girlfriend. "Are you going to say you are sorry for what you said after the game?"

"Well it's true. Charlie so would've caught that snitch if Fred hadn't sneak attacked him."

"Hey!"

"Oh that's not true and you know it," Harry said smirking. "Alright I'll make you a deal. Admit that I am the best seeker Seeker to ever grace this Earth and… declare me the _bestest_ _wizard ever_, and I'll stop."

"Never," Ginny whispered.

Harry leaned down and whispered in her ear, sending shivers down her spine, "Then this mindless torture continues." Before pushing up and tickling her mercilessly once more.

Just as suddenly as it started, Harry's tickling ceased, startling Ginny so much that she stopped smiling, instead staring at the slightly worried look on her boyfriends face.

"Harry are you—"

"Shh!" After a moment Harry looked around at everyone and asked, "Did any of you hear that?" Everyone shook their heads slowly, looking curiously at Harry.

Suddenly, Harry jumped up and ran to the window, starling many people with his quickness. Finally MJ gathered enough sense to ask, "What do you hear Harry?"

He stood there by the window, looking out at the surrounding darkness, before saying slowly, "It sounded… like two people apparating. But everyone who is supposed to be here is here, right Mrs. Weasley?"

"Mrs. Weasley nodded. "Everyone who I invited showed up except for Katie Bell and Oliver Wood, but they just got married, so I expect they wanted to be alone, but everyone is here. Well, I didn't invite Cady, but—"

"I came anyway, thanks for caring," Cady replied sarcastically.

"I'm sorry dear, but I didn't know if you and Fred were still together after—"

"Shh!" Harry exclaimed suddenly making many people jump. He turned to Cady, Ron, Fred, and Bill, who were closest to the window, and asked, "You heard that right?" They all nodded.

"Although that sounded like more than two people…." Cady said slowly as she walked towards the window.

Everyone was silent. Harry had his back turned towards the window, but Cady was still looking out of the window, making her able to push Harry out of the way before a green streak of light blasted apart the window and flew by right where his head had been moments before.

Harry and Cady ducked to the ground to stay out of the way of more curses and flying bits glass while the simultaneously yelled, "RUN!"

Soon everyone was on their feet, wands drawn, throwing curses and jinxes at every masked, robed person, who were fighting back just as hard. Soon Cady and Harry came to the realization that they weren't fighting back, but were simply just throwing back whatever curses were thrown at them. They were on the defense, looking as though they were waiting for something to happen.

Then all of a sudden, a pain filled scream rippled through the air, causing everyone to freeze.

Everyone turned to look at the source of the scream. Harry was on the ground, his face white, tears of pain leaking from his eyes, clutching both hands to his lightning bolt scar.

"Someone get Dumbledore!" Someone yelled in a panicky voice. Cady half expected some Death Eaters to cower at Dumbledore's name, but was instead surprised to see them look… triumphed, like they had come here in hopes of getting Dumbledore. The thought scared her, but as soon as she saw Dumbledore come through the fireplace and rush to Harry's side, she felt confident.

The back and forth fighting continued for quite some time, and when people were finally starting to look tired, they heard someone scream, again as if intense pain. Most people turned expecting to see Harry clutching his forehead still, but were surprised to see Harry clutching not just his scar, but his whole head. Now the Death Eaters seemed so excited it was as though Christmas had come early.

Everyone got even more frightened when Dumbledore yelled, "I've never seen him like this before! The only time I've ever seen this in anyone was… oh Merlin."

"Dumbledore just help him!" Ginny yelled from the other side of the garden.

"Harry, do not let it build up inside of you like this! You could injure or kill someone, or worse, yourself!" Dumbledore yelled in panic.

"It's not like I'm doing it… on purpose!" Harry said with his teeth gritted and his voice strained.

"What are you talking about?"

"My magic," Harry screamed. "I keep trying to let it out but I can't! I can't control it, it's like something's blocking it!" Nobody had ever heard Harry sound so helpless, desperate, and, quite frankly, scared before, and it was very unnerving.

"YOU!" Everyone all turned as one to see Cady, Fred, Bill, and Charlie fighting the Dark Lord at once, and it only frightened everyone further. When they saw Cady's cutting curse hit Voldemort they were shocked to see he didn't even attempt to block it, and further shocked beyond words to when his chest suddenly turn to black smoke, allowing the curse to fly right through him. Voldemort wasn't even fighting back, or even defending himself as his Death Eaters were.

Cady ran over to Dumbledore, who was still kneeling next to a still screaming Harry. It seemed that now that Voldemort was here, the pain in his scar had intensified and he couldn't decide which hurt more. She was about to bend down when Dumbledore yelled, "Get back, Ms. Jackson! He could let loose at any moment."

She was about to protest when Ginny's screams for help pierced through the air. She was torn: which friend did should she help?

Dumbledore seemed to realize her internal struggle. "Go help Ms. Weasley. Harry's in good hands Cady, he'll be fine. Go help your friend."

Those were the last words Dumbledore had ever said to Cady. Suddenly, across the yard, Voldemort seemed to tense up, and suddenly fell to the ground unconscious. A few people started cheering with glee, but when they turned to take care of the Death Eaters, they all looked extremely excited. They started staring joyfully back and forth between Harry's no longer screaming, also unconscious form, and Voldemort's. As soon as Cady was out of rebound magic range, Harry's magic finally released. There was a huge flash of white light so bright and so powerful that many people had to shield their eyes, or were pushed back just by the sheer force of it.

When the light finally cleared, Dumbledore lay dead at Harry's feet. Harry, whose eyes were a pure white color, his face completely impassive, had his wand pointed at Dumbledore. Obviously something had happened between the two during the few minutes the light had lingered, but what happened.

Had Harry actually killed Albus Dumbledore?

Many Death Eaters were now screaming with obvious joy. While Harry was just standing, looking at Dumbledore's body, wand still raised, everyone turned as a whole to look at Voldemort. He, too, was on his feet once more, but instead of the red slit eyes that he had had before, he now had nothing but dark, black, empty holes. He was standing there with a look of obvious joy, but there was something different about him. It was his smile.

As before, when his smile had been just a creepy, evil sneer, now it was just plain… _disturbing. _Cady thought it looked like a smile off an evil clown from one of those muggle horror films. He looked completely deranged, and downright… _scary._

Suddenly, Voldemort laughed. Not just any laugh, but a victorious, strange, sort of crazy laugh: _insane _laugh. He turned to talk to the people of the Light side. When he talked, there was a slight echo to his voice, slightly deeper than his higher-pitched voice, which was still present. He sounded downright demented now.

"This is what happened to those who mess with the Dark Lord Voldemort. They die. Simple as that. And that boy," he said, pointing his wand at Harry now, "has been a thorn in my side for too long. This, my dear people, is what…" He smiled evilly again, "_revenge… _looks like."

He turned to Harry. Death Eaters watched gleefully while some of the others looked away in fright. Most couldn't look away, completely enticed by the disturbing turn of events.

"Goodbye…"

"No…," Cady whispered.

"Harry…"

"No…" many more people said slightly louder.

"...Potter."

"NO!" Cady and Ginny screamed together. Cady was closest… maybe if she ran fast enough….

She started running.

"Avada —"

"...NOO!"

"—Kadavra!"

She knew immediately it was hopeless. There was just no stopping that green light from hitting its mark. She may have been closer to him than Ginny was, but it was still too far. She tripped and fell to the ground, forced to watch as the curse flew by and hit its mark, making Harry crumble to the ground.

The world seemed to freeze at that moment. Or slow down at least. Everyone just watched in morbid or joyous fascination as Harry fell on in seemingly slow motion. It seemed to take Harry years to fall, even if it was only seconds. He finally hit the ground, eyes green once more, but instead of the happy fullness that had been there this morning, they were empty, cold, and dead. Harry was dead.

...Lifeless….

The people of the light gave a loud cry of shock, anger, and despair when all hell broke loose. Ginny was on her knees, sobbing hysterically into her mother's arms, who looked to be almost hysteric herself. Fred, George, and Ron were all fighting Voldemort, tears also gleaming in their eyes, pouring down their cheeks, while Voldemort just played the offensive defensive while smiling that new disturbing smile. Cady had never seen such a look of determination on Ron's face before. Looking into everyone's eyes, she saw the same panic and grief that gave him that revengeful determination; the look of someone insane with despair.

Remus sat huddled in a corner staring at Harry and Dumbledore and Harry's lifeless bodies, his mouth hanging slightly open, a blank, hollow, drawn expression on his face that Cady hoped to never see on his face again. Hermione, Bill, Charlie, Luna, Neville, and Mr. Weasley were all single-handedly fighting Death Eaters, tears also streaming down their faces, fighting as if to the death. Mad-Eye and Tonks, who both had arrived shortly before Voldemort, were trying to remove Harry and Dumbledore's bodies without further harming them.

With one last final blow towards from Ron and the twins, Voldemort ran off to the side, towards Mad-Eye and Tonks, to the perimeter of the grounds yelling, "The deed is done! You know what needed to be done, and now it is finished, so take the final piece and go!" His eyes were red once more, but were glinting with something that just wasn't _normal._

No one knew what he meant by 'take the final piece', but apparently the Death Eaters did. As Voldemort vanished with a flash of lightning and clap of thunder, all the Death Eaters stopped their fighting and, as one, turned toward Mad-Eye who was carrying Harry's lifeless body, and yelled, "_Pereunt__ Coelen__!"_

Panic ensued. Harry's body vanished just as Voldemort's had, while Mad-Eye was sent stumbling backwards. Death Eaters took their chance to overpower the best Auror alive and sent as many Killing Curses as possible towards him. They were all too excited, however, so their aim was rather off by quite a bit. One however, hit him right on his magical eye, and, not being actually attached to his body, burst into flames, and quickly eloped his head in the embers. As much as people did to help, they all knew it was useless. Killing Curse fires had to go out on their own, so they were forced to listen to the loud screams coming from Mad-Eye being burnt alive while the remaining Death Eaters seemed to evaporate away into thin air. It was over.

Voldemort had won.


	5. Chapter 4: Calm Before a Storm

Chapter 4: Calm Before a Storm

"Let's just go over it one more time, okay?"

Everyone groaned.

"Please, just the basic information to see if we can get anything more from it?"

"What more can we possibly get out of this Cady?" Fred asked wildly. "We've been over the same information so many times I could recite it backwards, forwards, upside down, and in Spanish if I knew how! I'm tired; I want to go to bed!"

"Don't take that tone with me Fred Weasley! If you want to go to bed so badly, go ahead—"

"Thank you—"

"But you'll be sleeping alone," Cady said with a pointed look, "on the _couch_."

Fred seemed to be contemplating Cady's words until Cady wacked him on the head and shoved some papers under his nose saying, "Read." Everyone else snickered but quickly shut up from the look on MJ's face.

Everyone was tired, and they all agreed with Fred (though they would have said it a little more sincerely). There really was no reason to go over all this information because they knew it all already. It has been nearly six months since Cady had shared her theory with the Weasleys, and the only information they had to go by was all still the same information from six months ago, which all in all wasn't much to go on.

Of course there wasn't really any new information to get. The Ministry of Magic was slowly destroying itself, so their records and such weren't much help. Hogwarts had been closed for about three months, and Voldemort and his cronies had been on a definite DL for these past six months. In fact, the only attack they had the past half year was on some muggle family the day after Cady had told the Weasleys the possible problem. The Death Eaters had attacked some family, who lived on Potter Road no less, raped them and tortured them into insanity before finally killing them; brutally.

The truth was everyone was getting a little desperate. The Order was getting desperate for any news on Voldemort and the Dark Prince and what they're doing because no one had heard from either of them for so long. The rest of the wizarding world was just going plain insane from the quiet attacks. Witches and Wizards alike had been waiting for so long for these pointless and ridiculous attacks to stop, but now that they had, they didn't like it. The fact that Voldemort was alive and out there, could do anything in the world to anyone he wanted and wasn't, was one that was causing nothing short of panic.

Gong to Diagon Ally nowadays was a hazard. You could be walking down the winding street, minding your own business, and someone could suddenly stop and accuse you of Dark Magic. Other people would hear the accusations and start attacking you relentlessly with an angry, insane look in their eyes. More people have ended up dead on the streets from hundreds bunches of witches and wizards ganging up on them and attacking them than from the hand of the Dark Lord and his followers themselves.

The worst of it was that this would happen at school, at Hogwarts, too. After Dumbledore died, the school had miraculously stayed open under McGonagall's rule. But after a series of attacks, arguments and injuries, both physically and mentally, and finally a total of eight people dying in a single fight caused the closing of the school.

But that wasn't the weirdest part. Before the school closed, the students seemed to have lost their spirit. They looked like they had been kissed by a Dementor. Their eyes empty, glossed over and clear of emotion, shoulders slumped in a defeated way; no laughter, no smiles, just permanent frowns, except for a few students.

The few students had, at first, seemed like the rest according to the professors. But one day, the day of the eight deaths at Hogwarts, a group of five Hufflepuff third years walked in with crazed smiles on their face, like that clown from the _It _movie, as Ginny had put it.. They sat down and whispered to each other, which was odd in itself as no one talked anymore these days. Then they would start to giggle; no, not innocent little giggles either: a crazy, hearty, hysterical giggle that you would expect to hear from someone in the Mental Ward at St. Mungos or the Pillow Room at a muggle mental hospital.

The students then jumped up on to the tables and laughed even more loudly. Then a girl started screaming in a high pitched, unnatural, inhuman voice about how "It was angry, and now they have to suffer. It suffered at your hands for too long, and now you _all _shall pay." After that the laughter resumed, although there were some younger Gryffindors laughing too. Some Revenclaws had also started to giggle, but the Slytherins just sat there looking scared, fearing for their peers' sanity or for their own lives.

Then while the laughter continued, those five third year Hufflepuff stood up straight, hands wide spread out at their sides, looking down with their heads bowed, eyes looking still at the teachers, still paralyzed at the Head Table unable to move, with evil grins on their faces. All of a sudden, a strong wind started blowing around the students, each standing on different tables, one in front of the Head's Table, the gusts of wind making the hair and cloaks of the students fly around in front of their faces, cloaks billowing ominously. They started to sing:

_You've fought so hard  
>so valiantly<br>you wanted win  
>but got tragedy<em>

_It comes out of nowhere  
>takes you in the night<br>don't ever look back  
>you'll find no light<em>

_Nothing can save you  
>there's no turning back<br>the Darkness is coming  
>and you don't stand a chance <em>

Luna and Ginny were nearly in shock by the time they got home, and after that they slipped into a depression. That was nearly three months ago. Luna seemed to be doing a little better, but Ginny seemed the same as she was then. Now Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry is officially closed, and the Order of the Phoenix, and the rest of the Wizarding World as well, were slowly going haywire. The worst part about it was there was no one good enough left to do anything about it. That's why the Order was so desperate for Harry.

"Do you think Tonks looked anymore into that song?"

"I wouldn't call it a song," George said, "more of a chant really—OUCH!" he yelped as Cady threw a book at his head.

"That's beside the point. We need to look into this more. It talks about the Darkness, I'm positive."

"What about the children?" Hermione asked suddenly, "The five children chanting or singing or whatever to that little… rhyme?"

"What about them?"

"What happened to them? They were taken to St. Mungos weren't they? Maybe we could call Poppy?"

After the school had been forced to close Madame Pomfrey went to St. Mungos to see if she could help figure out what had caused the five third years to act so strangely.

Cady sighed exasperatedly. "I told you: when they woke up they seemed perfectly normal. Well, normal as possible I suppose. They were back to the way they were before. They kept them for observation for about a month and a half, then sent them home bringing them back for weekly checkups."

"What about the checkups? Did they do anything in those?"

"I don't know. Poppy was only on the Observation and Research team working with the children. She isn't the psychologist they go to though, and with all that patient confidentiality stuff she couldn't get her hands on the information."

"Well this is getting us nowhere," Ron cried out angrily. "Look, Cady, I know you want to help and to figure this out but," he looked at his watch, "it's after midnight, and you woke us up at six this morning after sending us to bed at two. We've been at this all day. It's the same information, if there's anything else to get out of this, it'll be there in the morning. Now, I'm tired, you're tired, and I'm rambling so let's go to bed before you get the sense to slap me."

Cady had no choice. She knew they were right. She sighed.

"Alright, it's my turn to stay in the Leaky Cauldron tonight so I can see what I can dish out on Voldemort." (She ignored most people shudder). "Is it alright if I leave this stuff here?"

Once she got the okay from the Weasleys, she kissed Fred goodbye and Floo'd out.

* * *

><p>"Is everything in place for tonight?" asked a high, cold voice.<p>

"Yes my Lord."

"Good, good…" he turned to the man sitting on his right. "You will watch over the attack, yes?

"Yes father."

"Excellent. You may leave. But remember, no one in the way of this information will survive. Get your information and get out before anyone can stop you. I don't think anyone will notice though, with all these distractions. The Order of the Phoenix will definitely be too busy for you three."

* * *

><p>Ginny Weasley sat quietly in her room. Tears were silently streaming down her face as she looked at the photograph in her hands.<p>

It had been taken two weeks after her and Harry had finally gotten together in her sixth year. After crushing on her all through his sixth year, that summer, a couple days before school started, Harry had just grabbed her and started snogging her senseless in the library at Grimmauld Place. Things had gotten pretty intense until Remus walked in on them. After much embarrassment, Remus had asked if they were a couple, which they both agreed to. Though Ginny could've sworn Remus had muttered "Finally" under their his breath.

The picture was at Hogwarts under the beach tree by the lake. Harry was holding Ginny close, arms around her waist, both sharing soft, gentle but passionate kisses. They hadn't known at the time, but apparently Colin Creevey had caught them and taken a picture. Ginny was ever so happy when she saw it three years ago, and she kept it ever since.

Ginny was particularly upset tonight because tomorrow would be the one year anniversary of Professor Dumbledore's death and Harry's death/disappearance (still no one knew what really happened to him). Everyone seemed to think that Harry was alive and well, but Ginny thought him dead. She knew that if Harry really was 'okay' then he would have tried to find her or someone from the D.A. or the Order. But nobody would listen.

They were beginning to become really obsessed with finding Harry, especially Cady. They were starting to become oblivious to everything going on around them. Although Ginny knew Cady meant well, but she just couldn't believe what this girl was saying. The Darkness, two new prophecies, and a legend? And about Merlin no less! It just seemed too farfetched. She would rather Harry be dead than forced into doing the things she knew he would be doing if Cady was right.

Everyone in the Order and at the Ministry was frightened Voldemort and his Death Eaters would try to do something tomorrow. After all, it was the anniversary of the death of their only hope and heroes, so why not just rub it in a bit more? Honestly, Ginny knew they would because that was just who Voldemort was. But the Ministry, although they feared something would happen, they had deemed it 'unlikely' and 'unimportant'. And the Order right now was too busy to have time to worry and Ginny liked it like that.

Ever since July 31st had been creeping closer, everyone had started tip toeing around her, like she was a walking time bomb, just waiting for the perfect moment to blow up in somebody's face. This only succeeded in making her even more angry and annoyed. Her Mum, Hermione, and Fleur all tried to get her to talk about her feelings. Her brothers were just nervous whenever she was around. Her father was too busy trying to cheer up Remus, who was almost as depressed as she was. And Tonks just annoyed her with her cheeriness. The only person who was behaving normal around her was Cady, and that was just because she was too busy with the Harry problem. But hey, if looking for her dead ex-boyfriend kept Cady from talking and hanging around Ginny, the more power to her.

Cady Madeline Jackson had really annoyed Ginny this past year. She didn't know why, but she just didn't like her like she used to. She didn't hate her, but they just weren't the best friends they had been since graduating Hogwarts, but not anymore. Not since one year ago when she killed Ginny's boyfriend.

* * *

><p>All he could feel was cold. It was dark, pitch black, and empty. He felt no emotion. At least none of the emotions he would rather feel. He could feel every bit of his despair: pain, suffering, and depression. That's all you could ever feel in this place... wherever it was… always so cold…. It was like living with a dementor, only ten times worse because now there's no spell to save you. It was impossible to remember anything happy… was happy even ever real? Was it just a figment of his imagination? He couldn't remember. The only possible escape was into what was left of your mind, to go to sleep and dream of nothing but sweet, sweet death.<p>

But he was already dead, wasn't he? His soul certainly was, so why not the rest of his existence?

* * *

><p>As Cady lay in bed that night at the Leaky Cauldron, she just couldn't help but feel apprehensive about falling asleep. It was officially July 31st and she was afraid something bad… something terrible… would happen.<p>

It wasn't that she didn't expect Voldemort to so something (of course he would, this was Voldemort for crying out loud), it was that she knew it would be something big; something to give witches and wizards everywhere just one more reason to dread that day and fear him.

Would he attack the Ministry, the Weasleys? Would he plan a full scale muggle killing spree? St. Mungos, Azkaban, Hogwarts? No point in attacking Hogwarts really: no one is ever really there accept except McGonagall and even she's been seen there less and less lately.

Cady didn't know how long she lay there with these unsettling thoughts, thinking of how odd it was to not hear muggles laughing in the streets, or completely pissed drunkards downstairs. It must have been a while however, for she finally fell into an uneasy sleep, still on alert for any signs of attacking.

_BOOM_

Cady woke with a start as a loud explosion could be heard from down below.

_BOOM_

It was loud enough to make the room shake, the mirrors shatter, and the windows rattle. She looked over at the clock and saw she had only been asleep about thirty minutes.

_BOOM, BOOM_

Again and again it went off until finally everything grew quiet. The quiet was unnatural, like all the sound and oxygen being sucked from the air before an atomic bomb blew.

And it did.

It was enough to shake the building, knock over the dresser, and fling Cady out of her bed. Someone downstairs, a child perhaps, was screaming as the lights blew out, then everything got quiet.

Suddenly people in the Ally below were screaming and yelling, curses and jinxes could be heard from below in the streets and in the halls of the pub, with flashes of different colored light to go with them. That's when Cady remembered, like a flash of light, flashback rolling in the back of her head….

"_This, my dear people is what… revenge… looks like…."_

Cady looked around the room, desperate for an escape, to help the people screaming below, trying to get the images of one year ago out of her head…

She forcefully applied Occlumency to push the flashback away. She had to keep calm. That's when it all came together in Cady's mind.

July 31st?

Diagon Ally?

And it was no coincidence that Cady, head of the research into the Darkness, just _happened _to be _here _tonight….

No… the attacks had started. Cady had been right all along. Today, the war between the two sides officially started, and it was starting with an attack on Diagon Ally.

* * *

><p>AN: Short, I know, but I liked it and I didn't want to change it and I won't. Sorry if I missed some of the mistakes. My sisters a grammar freak, so you'd think it would rub off on me _but_... Don't forget to review! :)


	6. Chapter 5: The Prince

A/N: I had to change the rating to M after writing this chapter. Any character OOC will be explained later. Yes, there is extreme, somewhat graphic violence in this chapter.

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. All rights go to JK Rowling. This article is written purely for fun.**

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><p>Chapter 5: The Prince<p>

Everything was quiet at Number Grimmauld Place on the night of July 30th, 1999. All the Weasleys were asleep in their beds and all Order members had returned home for the night, completely calm and relaxed, ready to crawl into bed with their respective spouses. One lone figure, however, could be found sitting in the corner of the dirty sitting, resting on one of the dark and musky old armchairs.

Remus Lupin could not sleep. '_It's the day after the full moon,' _Remus thought with a slight, humorless chuckle. '_Of course I can't sleep.' _But of course this was not the only reason.

He, like Ms. Jackson, felt that it would be just like Voldemort to create mayhem on the darkest and most depressing day in the history of the Wizarding World. '_More like rub it in our face, that's what he'll do…' _he thought darkly.

The only upside to this possible attack now was that, although he hated to admit it, Harry might get involved. This, of course, would be a bittersweet moment for everyone. One because they got to see Harry, although not so good, because it wouldn't be the Harry they would want to see, and he would probably try to kill them all.

Things had turned so bad since Harry died/disappeared. Nobody had really thought much about Harry's part in the war. They had all thought Voldemort was just after him because he had tried to kill him as a baby, but that thought was demolished in a lot of people when Cady told them about the prophecy.

When Cady had explained things to select members of the Order, all of them had immediately believed the theory. Remus merely believed it because he didn't want to think Harry dead, even after all this time. Nobody did, really. For him, loosing Harry was losing the last link to him best friends he had, and losing his last bit of family.

When Cady had told everyone of the prophecy, Remus had been horrified. This prophecy was linking Harry to Voldemort, making him either murderer or murdered. Harry didn't deserve that, no one did.

But the more he thought about it, the more he realized that Harry Potter was the perfect person for the job. He was loyal, brave and true, not to mention powerful. He seemed to be the perfect fit for the job. And it's not as though Harry had asked for this it to happen.

Remus was suddenly interrupted from his musings by green flames in the fireplace suddenly filling the room.

"Remus," Kingsley's voice graveled, "quickly: gather the others. There's an attack at St. Mungo's and we need any all help we can get." His head quickly disappeared as Remus quickly ran up the stairs to gather the others.

_'And so it begins…' _he thought grimly.

* * *

><p>"Are you sure this is what you want to do?"<p>

"Yes. It will be better, quicker even, without you there. There will definitely be Order members there and, while I would like to have you there by my side, we can't risk your exposure yet."

"I understand my lord. But what will I do tonight? You don't honestly expect me to sit back and do nothing, do you?" The boy asked with a smile.

"No, of course not," the man replied with a slight, thoughtful smile. "I have someone I need to talk to, but as I will be too busy tonight, I think it best if maybe you go instead. After all, they are almost as afraid of you as they are of me nowadays."

"What shall I do father?"

"We will need two people tonight… I think a trip to Diagon Ally is in order for you tonight my boy…."

* * *

><p>"We're sending half of the Aurors we have, which isn't much with the suicide rate up so high lately, but it's all we have. There aren't many of us to fight tonight so we will have to be careful…. We can divide ourselves into small groups and team up with the Aurors and try to work with what we have, but I doubt it will do much good…."<p>

Ginny stopped listening at that point. She was in a state of shock, scared and upset by recent events. It was beginning, the actual war with Voldemort, and of course it was starting on July 31st.

Tonight, they all knew, would be the night they found out the truth. Tonight they would know if Cady's theory was correct and find out if Harry was still alive. But while everyone was excited to figure out the truth, Ginny was terrified. She was terrified that, if indeed Cady's theory was correct, then that meant it was her Harry out there doing all those terrible things to people: all the killing, and the torturing and controlling. He was the one helping destroying homes and families, working with the people who had made his life a living hell, and that thought disgusted her.

Although, the truth was that right now she was disgusted with herself. Because honestly, she knew that deep down inside of her, she was _hoping _it was Harry out there doing all those things, because that meant that he wasn't dead and she could still get him back. She knew it was completely selfish to think that, but if Harry was alive and doing all these things, it meant he wasn't dead and doing nothing at all. It meant he was alive and kicking and would be able to come back to her, where he belonged. And although these thoughts made her disgusted with herself, she just couldn't make them go away.

She was interrupted from her thoughts by Hermione's shrill scream and her brother, Fred's yell of, "What do you mean they're attacking Diagon Ally!" Ginny's head snapped up to look at Fred. Why was there so much fear in his eyes? What was so important about Diagon Ally that would make him yell like that?

"I mean there's about thirty Death Eaters running through this place right now! Send help NOW!" And then Dedalus Diggle's head popped out of the fire, flames returning to their original color.

"I have to go help… I have to get over there… she needs me there…" Everyone watched Fred as he paced back and forth, mumbling the same things over again.

"Gred… what are you going on about?" George asked in alarm. Fred was working himself into full panic mode now. Then Ginny understood.

"Cady's at the Leaky Caldron," Ginny and Fred whispered together.

* * *

><p>Once the bangs had stopped, Cady jumped out of bed and pulled her wand out of her jeans. She ran out of her room and into the hallway. It was empty, but there were obvious signs of a struggle from the crushed tables, broken glass from the lights, and torn up paintings on the floor.<p>

She ran down the hallway and almost to the stairs when she tripped and felt a sharp pain in her hand that she had used to break her fall. She looked down at her hand and saw small pieces of glass surrounding a larger piece of glass going straight through her palm and small cuts on her fingers. When she looked back to see what caused her fall, and was horrified to see the body of Pavarti Patil, an old friend from school.

Cady lay there, staring in horror at the unmoving body of her friend. She was starting to think that she was going crazy. Pavarti had died almost six months ago. In fact, Cady and Hermione had been the ones to find her body outside of the door to the Hall of Prophecies. No one knew how she had died, as there were no traces of dark magic lingering on her body, but there had been a look of terror still etched on her face.

While Cady was distracted, a hand came out of nowhere and grabbed her hair, lifting her to her feet. The hand then threw her very hard against the wall . She hit her head and saw stars and black spots pop up in front of her eyes. She got up and staggered towards her attacker trying to fight the dizziness.

She pulled out her wand and faced her attacker: Death Eater.

"Hey," she slurred, sounding pathetic, "haven't seen your lot around in a while. Did you have a nice little holiday?" The Death Eater said nothing, sending a blue spell her way, which she narrowly avoided.

"Aw, come on," she chided feeling slightly reckless, "We haven't seen each other in a while." She threw an Impedimenta which they easily deflected. "I just want to chat, you know, catch up."

He too threw an _Impedimenta _towards her. She was so dizzy she was seeing three of everything. She jumped towards the one on the left, hoping to Merlin that she was right. She was able to dodge the curse, but in doing so, she had jumped right into another curse and felt her wand fly out of her hand.

"Ha," she jeered, "Is that the best you can do?" She knew that without her wand in her hand she was being beyond reckless to the point of plain stupidity but couldn't find it in herself to care.

Death Eaters don't like to be teased was the lesson she learned that night. She was hit with two unknown cursed and a very powerful cutting curse to the leg, leaving a gash all the way down her thigh almost three inches deep. The spells were so powerful that they sent her flying backwards against the wall, hitting it face first. She heard a sickening crunch followed by a warm sticky substance flowing down her chin. _Great, _she thought, _a broken nose and I bit through my tongue. _

She tried to get back up but stumbled. The Death Eater laughed at her pathetic attempt to try to stand.

"That," she gasped using the wall to slowly pull herself up, wiping blood from her nose, "wasn't very nice." He merely chuckled.

"So you wanna play?" she asked, swaying on feet. She spit some blood and a couple of teeth out of her mouth and wordlessly summoned her wand back into her hand. "Okay. Let's play."

* * *

><p>"I have to go… I have to help her…" Fred had been pacing the room, mumbling to himself for the past half an hour. Many people had come and gone in that time to help with the attacks on St. Mungo's and Diagon Ally, most them Order members and old Hogwarts professors. Ginny, Mrs. and Mr. Weasley, George, Ron, and Hermione were sitting at the dining table watching an anxious and very nervous Fred.<p>

Suddenly, Fred jumped and ran to look out the window. When he did this, Ginny got an odd déjà vu feeling.

"I can't do this," Fred said fiercely, "I can't just sit here and wait for something to happen just so I can hear about it second hand and it be too late to do a damn thing about it!"

"Fred, calm down, everything's alright," Ginny started anxiously.

"No, everything is not alright!" Fred yelled. "Cady is over there, by herself, with no protection… and Death Eaters and… mental stuff… and I just… can't…."

"Fred," George said, grabbing his twin by the shoulders, "I feel for you okay? But it will—"

"_Don't tell me it will be okay!" _Fred shouted, "I just don't want to think about what those bastards will do to her if she's by herself—"

"But she'll be—"

"She won't be okay!" Fred cried hysterically, "Do you know what this world is like nowadays? Do you read about what those people do to women these days? This isn't a normal war like before when Dumbledore and Harry were still around, this is different! This isn't war this is… disaster, it's… its mental—"

"BECAUSE I LOVE HER!" Fred screamed. "Because of what happened last year she is at the top of Voldemort's hit list and if he could get to Harry and St. Mungo's and Diagon Ally, then he can get to her too!"

Everyone stopped trying to comfort Fred at that point because they all knew that what he had just stated was true. If they had let Voldemort get Harry, the most protected person in the Wizarding World, then how were they supposed to convince Fred that his girlfriend wouldn't be next?

"Fred," Ginny said quietly after a while, "Think about it. If you were over there, right now, and Cady was here having a fit because she was scared you were going to get yourself killed, even though you knew you could hold your own in a duel, how would that make you feel?"

He paused for a moment. "Like she didn't believe in me," he sniffed. "And I would feel angry and hurt."

"Exactly. And you know Cady's temper is nearly as bad as mine, maybe even a little more because she's part veela." Fred chuckled and wiped his eyes on the back of his hand. Ginny smiled.

"Wait until we get orders. Wait until we have more information and more of the situation under control before you run off and do anything rash, because I can guarantee that Cady is out there right now putting up one hell of a fight. Just stay calm and be brave. All we can do is wait."

After a few minute, Fred was sitting back at the table next to George with a cup of tea in his hands. Everyone was quiet for a while until Fred looked up a Ginny with a confused frown on his face.

"I thought you hated Cady. Why are you defending her?"

Ginny sighed and looked out the window without really seeing anything. "I don't hate Cady and I'm not defending her. I may not like her, but it's obvious you like her a lot, and I don't want to see you get hurt. Besides," she added quietly, getting up and walking towards the door, "I know what it's like to lose someone you love, and I don't want either of you to have to feel the way I did."

* * *

><p>He had always loved watching witches and wizards afraid for their lives. Running around like spooked horses and dropping dead like flies at the flick of the Death Eaters wands. Even more amusing however, would have to be the muggles in muggle London, watching the lights as though they were fireworks, screaming hysterically when the first person dies from that green flash of light.<p>

It gave him a great sense of accomplishment, knowing that he had organized and participated in the blood bath that ensued.

But tonight was not the night for such matters. He had business to take care of for his father, very important business, and these things could not wait.

Walking up the sidewalk, black cloak billowing behind him, reminding him awkwardly of Severus Snape, he burst in through the doors to the Leaky Cauldron. Many people ran, scared, others apparated away while they still could. Some even tried to block others from getting in the way, or tried stupidly to block his path. Growing impatient as well as amused, he waved his hand, sending them all backwards into the back wall. It created a loud bang that could've woken someone anywhere in the pub, but he was not worried.

He set out for the backroom, using his hand to carelessly send things in his way against the wall and into other people, and walked towards the entrance to Diagon Ally. He pulled out his wand and with a single slight flick of the wrist, barely noticeable to anyone else, blew the brick wall blocking the entrance apart.

Many people screamed as bits and pieces of the wall flew out and hit them, some knocked backwards off of their feet, others struck just enough to get injured, and others able to run away, still screaming in sheer terror.

He set off down the winding road, cloak still billowing menacingly, people jumping in fear, some looking shocked or horrified at the face they were seeing. '_Of course_' he thought, '_no one would think to see me here._' He loved it, but at the same time it slightly disturbed him that these people used to hold so much trust in him.

'_Learn to fight your own damn battles,_' he thought angrily.

Looking around he noticed the streets were nearly empty now, the people filling into the stores, seeking their refuge, trying to flee before the Death Eaters arrived to destroy them all. Of course nothing would save them, but he gave then credit for being smart and trying to leave, pureblood or not.

Of course there were still these other fools who seemed to think they could band together and fight him off, save everyone else and live to see tomorrow.

But, of course, they wouldn't.

Not if he had anything to do with it.

A few he recognized, like Oliver Wood and Lee Jordan, others he didn't, but felt no pity towards them anyway. If they were stupid enough to think that they could duel him and win, then they were as stupid as Mudbloods. And just as useless.

With on well aimed curse he had Katie Bell bleeding all over from what looked like wounds from a sword. That was enough to send many running, for now. He could see them lurking in the alleys, in the shadows. But in times like these, those places were probably the worst ones to hide in.

When he looked up from the pathetic girl's body, he realized with a slightly gleeful feeling that he had reached his destination. He strode purposefully forward and walked inside.

The place was empty of course. It was always empty whenever someone walked in. He looked around at the hundreds of boxes lining the walls all around the store, wondering if the place had a backroom or safe room of some sort. It would be rather foolish not to have one.

He cast a silencing charm on the front of the building, blocking out any noise the other Death Eaters were making. As soon as he had, he heard a noise from the back. He walked back with a slight spring in his step. The fact that this man was still here just proved in people's stupidity. All witches and wizards relied on magic too much.

The door was locked obviously. With a very powerful locking spell, yet it was weakly cast. Perfect.

With one lazy wave of his hand and a swift kick, the door was knocked off its hinges. The cowering figure in the corner whimpered pathetically. He laughed.

"Hello Mr. Ollivander. I do believe we have some business to take care of."

* * *

><p>Cady and her Death Eater played the ridiculous game of back and forth for a while. She ducked and rolled and jumped and dodged until finally, with one last curse, struck sown her opponent.<p>

When the Death Eater dropped, she knew she should have just walked away to find her next pursuer, but curiosity got the best of her. She shocked beyond words when she reached down and pulled off the mask and revealed the face of Seamus Finnegan, an old classmate who had been killed nearly two and a half years ago.

She stared down in horror at his face for the longest time, so shocked that her legs wouldn't register the thought to run away from there as quickly as possible.

Finally, she was able find the sense to jump up and run. When she reached the stairs she ran into another Death Eater. He stuck out his hand, grabbed her by the hair and pulled – hard. She would've been able to stay on her feet if it weren't for the body that she hadn't seen the last time she ran by. When she landed, she was able to see the face of the person she had tripped over: Justin Finch-Fletchley, a Hufflepuff who had been found dead a year ago in his home with his girlfriend and father.

Cady was becoming very disturbed by everything that night when again, the hand grabbed her around the neck and pulled her roughly to her feet. He started to push her towards the stairs when again she tripped and, unable to grab anything to keep her up, fell backwards down the stairs, dragging the Death Eater with her.

Every stair on the steep flight hit her head with extreme force, bashing her skull and bruising her head. Splitting pain erupted on her head with every hit. By the time she reached the bottom she could feel the splinters in her head from the wood, the blood dripping down her neck , and the massive bump forming on her scalp. Darkness swelled in the corners of her eyes as the sweet relief of unconsciousness threatened to take over, but she desperatly tried to fight it off.

Standing very shakily, whimpering at the extreme pain in her head, she staggered dangerously towards the entrance to the pub area. She could no longer hear her attacker moving, so she figured he was either unconscious or broke his neck in the fall. Either way, it was okay with her. She figured it was a miracle_ she _didn't break _her _neck.

Pressing her ear against the door she listened carefully. She could hear the voices from within, shouts and whispers, the occasional spell and the cry of pain that followed. It smelled like smoke, blood, and alcohol as she pushed the door open and quietly slipped inside.

The place was a complete wreck: tables broken, glass all over the floor, liquids flooding the ground. The wall seperating muggle London and the Leaky Cauldron had been blown completely to peices, leaving muggles running in terror out front from the flashes of light that seemed to come out of nowhere, seemingly killing each person they hit. People were dueling fiercely inside the bar with Dawlish the Auror dueling more than three Death Eaters at once. Bodies also covered the ground, buried beneath the excessive amounts of rubble covering the floor.

Cady jumped as a curse flew by her, missing her by inches. She moved as fast as she could over towards Dawlish, wondering where the hell the rest of the Aurors and the Order was.

"Cady Madeline Jackson, what in the name of all that is magic are you doing here?"

"Don't even think about trying to send me away from here" Cady slurred over the shouting and the fizzing of curses.

"You alright, you sound a little off?"

"Don't worry about me Dawlish," she shouted slowly, "worry about yourself and don't get you're self killed!"

He smiled slightly. "Wasn't planning on it!"

Volleying curses, Cady got hit many times, only adding to the condition she was in. Finally they struck down one of the Death Eaters and were just about to turn to the others when a flash of green light came soaring by Cady's shoulder, hitting Dawlish straight in the face. She screamed, ducked, and turned just in time to see Dawlish hit the floor.

"I've always hated that guy… tried to attack Flitwick once… remember? Good thing you saved him." The voice she heard was low, cruel, and cold. It sent shivers down her spine and shook her to the core. And even thought the voice was just barely a whisper, it sounded as though it were coming from inside her head.

"Oh wait…" The voice was louder now, almost as though someone were speaking directly into her ear. She turned around slowly. "That's right…" he said menacingly, "I killed Flitwick too."

There he was: The Dark Prince. You could tell from the red eyes, so much like Voldemort's it was scary. There was something in those eyes… something hidden behind all the hate… it chilled her bones, made her heart stop and her blood freeze… it was pure, unadulterated evil… pure darkness.

"So glad you could join us Miss Jackson," he said tonelessly as he kicked the body at his feet out of his way. It gave a soft whimper. "What brings you here on this fine night?"

"Trying to find you actually."

"Well… here I am."

He started walking forward slowly with a calculating look in his eyes.

"You were actually the one I was hoping to meet here tonight."

"And why is that?"

"So I could do this," he pulled out his wand and flung a curse at her. Without her wand in her hand from dropping it when ducking the Killing Curse, she was unable to defend herself, and the curse hit her full in the face.

It was pain beyond anything she had ever felt. Worse than the cruciautus curse even. And it's not as though she hadn't been under that curse before because she had, more times than she could remember and more times than she probably should have. But there was something extra behind this curse. Weather it was a little more anger or a little more power, she couldn't tell, but whatever it was, it hurt – bad.

It felt like ages she was held under the curse and right when she thought she couldn't take anymore, he lifted it. Right after the relief however, the Prince hit her with a blasting curse to the chest and a cutting curse to the legs. She felt the skin on her thighs split and the blood pour down her legs from her deeper wounds and the wounds that seemed to have stopped bleeding starting up again. The sticky warmness disgusted her.

He pulled her up using her hair. "You were always a tough one to break Cady…" the Prince chuckled. "You didn't scream for any do that did you? Of course you don't go for all that… 'Girly crap'… as you used to call it, do you?"

"And you don't fight in real duels do you? No, you just wait until they're already weak from battle, right?" She was gasping for breath right now, and she could basically feel her heartbeat slowing and knew that messing with the Dark Prince right now was just asking to be killed.

"You didn't think that when I attacked your father though, did you?" he whispered seductively in her ear.

Anger filled her veins like poison and red spots replaced the black and white ones that had been flashing before her eyes one seconds ago. She wanted to strangle the man but before she could do anything, strong hands wrapped themselves around her neck for the second time that night.

"You are more courageous than your father though," the Prince said turbulently. "Your _dear darling daddy _was gone before the Dark Lord was even done with the first curse. He would've suffered a fate much worse than death in my opinion, so technically I was doing him a favor. I must admit though, out of all the people I've killed, your dad was probably most fun."

Anger like nothing she'd ever felt before filled Cady with such ferocity that she became slightly more lightheaded; before the Prince could do anything, and before she could register what she was doing, she turned her head and spat in his face, and kneed him in the groin. He flinched but still did not relinquish his hold.

"You sick bastard," she whispered, barley loud enough for him to hear.

"That wasn't very nice," he grumbled, bent over slightly, but still keeping his tight hold on her neck, his fingers starting to cut dangerously into her windpipe. He threw her backwards as hard as he could towards the bar, sending her flying over it, landing in glass and alcohol, cutting and burning her skin. She cried out and turned her head, looking straight into the unseeing eyes of Tom, the landlord of the Leaky Cauldron.

Before she could move anymore, she felt the Prince's hands closing around her neck once more. She stole a glance at the sweaty, dirty, bloody face of the man, waiting for the final blow before she looked away, as though she thought it would help protect herself from the pain.

"Look at me…"

The voice that had come out of his mouth was so much different than the darker one he had been using before. This one was so thick, rough, and pleading that she just had to look.

His face was oddly blank. His mask, which had been different from the other Death Eaters, was now broken, so she was able to see his face completely. He looked so lost and confused, sad and, quite frankly a little scared. She looked deep into his deep, red eyes that were staring at her so intensely. Sliding her eyes up his face she saw his forehead, smooth and clear; clean of any blemishes...

It took him only seconds to go back to how was before.

He punched her in the face, the force behind it knocking her off her feet. She landed hard on her back, all the air knocked out from her lungs. She could do nothing do defend herself as he bent down beside her and beat and punched and kicked her over and over again all over her body, each blow even worse than the last. Her voice, pleading with him to stop, to end it, to put her out of her misery, was faint even in her ears.

Finally he stopped and coughs racked her body and she felt even more blood come up her through and out her mouth. And through the blood that covered her face, the blood she could feel all over her, the metallic taste in her mouth from her tongue and internal bleeding…

And through it all, the last thing Cady remembered was the cruel, evil, echoing laugh of the Dark Prince, as though playing in her head, as the sweet relief of unconsciousness, of darkness, claimed her.

* * *

><p>AN: Like I said, any OOCness will be explained later in the story. I'm sorry if I missed any mistakes. I had fixed it once already, but them didn't save it so I had to do it all again... ugh. :\

Anyway... my posting is going to be pretty irregular for a while because I'm working on so many things at once. But I'll keep posting.

And don't give up on me yet. Remeber what the summary said! And don't forget ti review! I want to hear what you think so far! :)


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